Cisco is the dominant vendor in enterprise networking, and under CEO Chuck Robbins, it continues to innovate and lead.
Its latest significant acquisition is the $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a strategic move that enhances its product offerings across observability, data analytics, AIOps, and genAI. Moreover, in the realm of security, Cisco is expanding its platform-based approach with new additions like the Hypershield AI-native architecture. Cisco also manages to navigate the fluctuating tech industry landscape, managing supply issues, layoffs, and organizational restructuring effectively.
Explore the latest developments and updates from Cisco.
Aug. 30, 2024: Cisco has integrated its AppDynamics application management suite with Microsoft Azure cloud services. This collaboration enables the AppDynamics platform to oversee the performance of applications, virtual machines, and other resources on Microsoft’s cloud environment.
Aug. 27, 2024: Cisco announced plans to acquire Robust Intelligence, a security startup with a platform designed to protect AI models and data throughout the development-to-production lifecycle. It’s paying an undisclosed amount to acquire the company, which Cisco has previously invested in through its Cisco Investments portfolio.
Aug. 14, 2024: Cisco is cutting 6,000 jobs in its second round of layoffs this year and combining its networking, security and collaboration groups into one unit led by Jeetu Patel. Cisco wants to use this restructuring to pump more resources into three growth areas: AI networking, security and collaboration.
Aug. 09, 2024: A round of layoff announcements at Dell and Cisco are a result of both companies currently losing core market share to new industry competitors: Arista Networks for Cisco, in their core networking business, and low-cost PC manufacturers like Acer for Dell, an analyst said.
July 31, 2024: When companies increase IT/OT integration, they can simplify operations, boost security and streamline decision making, according to Cisco’s industrial networking research.
July 11, 2024: The security intelligence team at Cisco’s Talos recently conducted an analysis of ransomware groups to unveil prevalent attack methods and has provided insights to assist security teams in fortifying their organizational defenses.
July 09, 2024: Cisco is making significant strides in the cybersecurity space by adding new leadership and acquisitions, fueling their ambition with an AI-centric approach. While known for their prowess in networking and telecommunications, Cisco’s venture into the cybersecurity domain continues to grow.
June 07, 2024: In a recent announcement, Cisco introduced a new certification program aimed at IT professionals, designed to equip them with the skills to effectively design infrastructure suitable for AI and machine learning technologies. The new Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) AI Infrastructure certification is designed to be vendor-neutral and remains pivotal for evolving IT infrastructures, as stated by Cisco’s VP of Learning, Par Merat.
June 07, 2024: Integration efforts are underway at Cisco to merge technologies from acquired companies like Splunk, AppDynamics, and ThousandEyes into its offerings. During the recent Cisco Live event, representatives from Cisco and Splunk outlined their strategies for a seamless observability experience, aimed at enhancing application management across various platforms including on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud setups.
June 05, 2024: Cisco put AI front and center at its Live event, touting new networking, management and security products. CEO Chuck Robbins says the AI evolution is coming on fast, like the cloud transition on steroids. “You’re probably trying to figure out use cases, if you are haven’t already, and how you can use it,” said Robbins in his keynote address.
May 30, 2024: Despite a recent rough patch, Cisco has growth opportunities on multiple fronts. Its strategy starts with the $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a bold move that adds $4 billion in annual revenue to Cisco’s roughly $55 billion base. More importantly, it creates revenue-generating opportunities across a variety of fast-growing markets: security, observability, data analytics, AIOps, and genAI.
May 30, 2024: Cisco Meraki has rolled out 5G fixed wireless access gateways, and AT&T said it will use them to offer a new service for business branch offices. The new Meraki MG cellular MG52 and MG52E gateways fill out the high-end of Meraki’s cellular gateway family and offer 2 Gbps/300Mbp throughput – which is twice the throughput of current high-end MG offerings.
May 22, 2024: IT leaders need more help managing and securing their distributed networking environments, Cisco asserts in its Global Networking Trends Report. “Network architectures are more sophisticated, more complex, and spread across more multi-clouds and multi-vendors than ever. IT leaders are also besieged by rising cybersecurity risks, increased demand from new app and workload types, and vastly distributed workforces and infrastructures,” said Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager of Cisco networking.
May 16, 2024: Last year, Cisco discontinued its Hyperflex platform and transitioned this segment to Nutanix. Presently, Cisco and Nutanix have considerably enhanced their partnership by introducing new management tools, artificial intelligence features, and network improvements within their combined hyperconverged infrastructure solutions.
May 10, 2024: A new virtual appliance for Cisco’s AppDynamics observability platform provides more options for deployment alongside AI capabilities for detecting anomalies and analyzing root causes, securing applications, and monitoring SAP systems.
May 07, 2024: Cisco has enhanced its Panoptica security platform with new AI-driven security features aimed at accelerating the identification and correction of threats. These enhancements are intended to bolster the protection of cloud-native applications, focusing on securing containerized and microservice-driven applications on platforms like Kubernetes.
May 03, 2024: The strategic alliance between Cisco and Red Hat continues to grow, marking fifteen years with further advancements in networking, AI, and cloud capabilities. At the 2024 Red Hat Summit, demonstrations will show how the deep integration between Cisco ACI and Red Hat’s OpenShift can enhance network operations for customers.
May 02, 2024: Cisco is part of a group that backed security startup Corelight with $150 million in Series E funding. The new funding will enable Corelight to further develop its technology, which transforms network and cloud activity as well as packet capture into evidence that security teams use to proactively hunt for threats, accelerate response to incidents, gain network visibility, and create powerful analytics results, according to the startup.
April 18, 2024: Cisco announces AI-based Hypershield, a self-upgrading security fabric that’s designed to protect distributed applications, devices and data.
April 03, 2024: Data centers are notorious energy hogs, and the increase in heavy-duty networking and compute power required to handle AI workloads is only going to exacerbate the sustainability issue. But there are efforts underway to address the growth of AI and ML in data centers while keeping energy efficiency, cooling and performance in mind.
March 27, 2024: Security readiness among enterprises has dropped in the past year, while the confidence level of many organizations is up. This disparity between confidence levels and security readiness suggests that companies may be overestimating their ability to navigate the threat landscape, Cisco reports in its newly released Cybersecurity Readiness Index.
March 27, 2024: Cisco published its hybrid work study revealing that 72% of employees favor returning to the office if it features modernized workspaces and advanced collaboration tools. According to the study, which included responses from 14,050 employees and 3,800 employers across 19 countries, most office environments presently emphasize solitary tasks over communal and creative interactions. Learn more through this article on workplace enhancements by Cisco.
March 25, 2024: Cisco appoints Martin Lund, a former executive from Microsoft and Broadcom, to oversee Cisco’s critical technologies division, including silicon, optics, and hardware crucial for the company’s switching, routing, and wireless products. More details can be found in this announcement.
March 21, 2024: Cisco and Intel’s collaboration continues to focus on enhancing Wi-Fi technologies, targeting improved reliability and advanced features for applications requiring low latency. Further information on this joint venture is available here.
March 20, 2024: Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk and collaboration with Nvidia form part of its strategy to create robust network infrastructure equipped for AI and ML workloads in data centers. Read more about these efforts here.
March 18, 2024: Cisco closed its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, promising product innovations across its security, observability and AI portfolios with the integration of Splunk. Network security teams can use Splunk’s technology to gain better visibility into network traffic, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and SIEM systems.
March 07, 2024: The bad actors who are perpetrating advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks aren’t just looking to access your network. They want to hang around to collect valuable data or lay plans for future attacks. Post-compromise threats are growing, Cisco says, and they’re aimed largely at aging network infrastructure and edge devices that are long past end-of-life stage and may have critical unpatched vulnerabilities. “… the older legacy components have more avenues for access, especially if the devices are out of support and they haven’t been updated in three or four years,” said Nick Biasini, head of outreach at Cisco’s Talos security research arm.
Feb. 29, 2024: Cisco has implemented a new blueprint that involves working more closely with partners to offer packages of networking and software components that meld IT elements with Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT).
Feb. 14, 2024: After days of speculation, Cisco announced a restructuring plan that will see the networking vendor cut 5%, or about 4,200 jobs, from its 84,900 workforce as it plans to continue to focus on high-strength areas such as AI and security.
Feb. 08, 2024: Cisco is launching a generative AI-based assistant to help customers handle cloud-native application security issues more quickly and efficiently. The Cisco AI Assistant for Panoptica will help businesses streamline, prioritize, and remediate risks and misconfigurations in multi-cloud environments, according to Vijoy Pandey, senior vice president of Cisco’s Outshift advanced development group.
Feb. 07, 2024: Cisco is delivering a cloud-based service that provides enterprise customers a centralized hub for managing AI elements. Named Motific, this service aims to accelerate the creation, deployment, and management of generative AI technologies in enterprise settings.
Feb. 06, 2024: Cisco and Nvidia have expanded their partnership to present integrated software and networking hardware that will assist customers in quickly establishing infrastructure to support AI applications. This collaboration enhances both companies’ commitment to advancing Ethernet networking for AI workloads in corporate environments and improves mutual access to each company’s sales and support networks.
Jan. 31, 2024: Cisco and Hitachi Vantara have unveiled the first fruits of their partnership, established last year, aiming to offer managed as-a-service solutions for enterprise clients with hybrid cloud setups. This collaborative service, named Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud, encompasses a suite of converged infrastructure services that integrates computing, networking, and software solutions from Cisco with storage solutions from Hitachi.
Jan. 26, 2024: Cisco AppDynamics introduced a new management solution designed to alleviate the workload on operations teams overseeing multiple application and infrastructure agents. This solution, named Smart Agent for Cisco AppDynamics, provides tools for identifying outdated software agents and streamlines the process of integrating and managing new agents via a unified user interface, as announced by Cisco.
Jan. 25, 2024: Kyndryl has embraced a set of new managed services featuring Cisco’s Secure Access technology, encompassing elements such as zero-trust network access, secure web gateway, and firewall services.
Jan. 24, 2024: Cisco and T-Mobile are collaborating to deliver a managed 5G connectivity service tailored for remote branches and small offices, deploying Cisco Meraki 5G cellular gateways along with its network and visibility management tools. The service, named Connected Workplace, also integrates a suite of cloud-managed security functions and the comprehensive Meraki dashboard for network administration. The package aims to facilitate connectivity for various organizational needs, including IoT devices and video setups, bolstered by T-Mobile’s unlimited nationwide business internet.
Jan. 22, 2024: Advances in core quantum networking technologies like repeaters and photonics are in progress, but security applications are projected to be the initial practical developments from these endeavors, highlighted by Liz Centoni, the executive vice president, chief strategy officer, and general manager of applications at Cisco.
Jan. 17, 2024: Cisco’s acquisition of startup Isovalent, developer of open-source tools Cilium and Tetragon, underscores the potential of the popular eBPF kernel technology for multicloud networking and security.
