Cisco Rock the Cloud: towards a world of many clouds...

To take the pulse of new trends and the challenge that a world of many clouds (public, private and hybrid) will pose, Cisco has organized this Thursday in Madrid, Rock the Cloud 2012, an event aimed at information systems experts interested in learning about the present and future of mobility, video and cloud computing.

As a new computing and business paradigm, Cloud Computing has transformed the way we consume and deliver IT resources and services. In fact, in recent years, we have seen how this technology has become a megatrend within the computing world and a necessity for companies to stay at the forefront in terms of innovation and business processes.

According to data from the latest Cloud Index presented by Cisco, in 2015 more than 50 percent of workloads will be processed in Cloud environments, demonstrating the growing importance that the cloud gains within companies year after year. In fact, it is estimated that video will be 70% of that traffic, and 90% of total traffic. Additionally, cloud services, accelerated by the adoption of tablets and smartphones, will lead to a second wave of the IT trend into the consumer space.

To take the pulse of these new trends and the challenge that a world of many clouds will pose, Cisco has organized this Thursday in Madrid, Rock the Cloud 2012, the third edition of an event aimed at information systems experts interested in learning about the present and future of mobility, video and cloud computing.

Tanto desde el punto de vista de la movilidad y su aportación a los negocios gracias a tecnologías que permiten conectarse en cualquier lugar, en cualquier momento y desde cualquier dispositivo, con toda seguridad; como de cloud, el nuevo modo de proveer y comprar servicios TIC, que permite a los Cloud Providers incluir sistemas de pago por uso, en lo que supone un nuevo modelo de negocio, y, por supuesto, el vídeo, con el reto de crear infraestructuras preparadas para soportar su creciente tráfico, que está transformando ya las redes y los sistemas de información…. Rock The Cloud ha dado las pistas para mejorar la productividad e innovación y, por consiguiente, la creación de empleo.

José Manuel Petisco, director general de Cisco España, ha abierto esta jornada afirmando que “vivimos una clara transformación de mercado encaminándonos hacia un mundo con nubes públicas, privadas e híbridas que cambiarán la forma en la que creamos, damos y entregamos servicios. Cambiaremos la forma en la que cambiaremos las redes de comunicaciones y la forma en la que entregaremos servicios y aplicaciones a nuestros clientes en una patente evolución en los servicios TIC”.

Petisco has anticipated a huge explosion of information, with 21 exabytes, but it is expected that in 2015 we will reach 56 exabytes (which would correspond to almost 13 billion DVDs traveling through the Internet in just one month). Cisco's CEO has highlighted that currently each individual already has, on average, seven IP devices and in the coming years, each user will manage fifty IP-connected devices. It has also emphasized a significant explosion of video in all aspects of personal and business life.

“At Cisco we want to provide a collaboration architecture, with a hyperconnected network and under a CloudVerse concept,” said Petisco.

For her part, María José Sobrini, director of consulting at Cisco, has assured that "in the coming years we are going to see millions of connected devices, and we will have to determine if our networks will be prepared for this explosion of high-quality information, much of it in video. In 2020, our digitalized universe will be 30 or 40 times larger than today." All this amount of information will be generated, stored and consumed at exponential rates. By 2030, a third of all this data will reside in the cloud.”

“Cloud is only as good as the infrastructure that supports it, and the capacity we have to access it,” said Sobrini. Regarding the field of broadcast, Sobrini has left an interesting reflection in the air: “in the future, we will all be reporters, we will broadcast videos in real time to multiple recipients.”

Norberto Mateos, general director of Intel Corporation Iberia, focused his presentation on the new, more competitive environment that is coming in a fully connected world. The speed of ICT will directly affect our clients and our business environment, offering new possibilities. “A range of possibilities opens up based on consumerization, big data and the cloud,” he assured.

Demonstration area

In this Rock The Cloud 2012, a demonstration area stands out in which Cisco, together with its partners, have shown numerous applications in practical work environments.

In this area of demonstrations, Videoscape stands out. This global television platform allows service providers to offer their customers all the content of traditional and online television, in addition to interaction with different social networks and communication applications, thus creating a new era around video and television entertainment. Videoscape is part of a global Cisco strategy that seeks a new generation of video that is easier for consumers and also opens a new market for the company's service providers.

Cisco Videoscape is an open platform that uses the cloud, network and consumer devices to deliver a new Internet video and TV experience with access to different entertainment sources, including broadcast channels, pay television and web, as well as the integration of Internet, social networks, communication and mobility applications.

Videoscape allows easy access to multiple content sources from different devices. Content is provided from a wider range of sources, including broadcast channels, on-demand television, DVRs and the Web.

Thanks to Videoscape, video service providers will be able to stand out from the competition and significantly increase their income. These new business models include new capabilities such as direct application offering, home telepresence, in-video, e-commerce and much more. Videoscape allows service providers to monetize activities outside their usual business network. For example, a service provider can offer its customers services under its own brand, regardless of their location or the method of accessing the content.

Jabber

Otro área de interés en la zona expositiva de este Rock The Cloud se ha centrado en Cisco Jabber, una aplicación gratuita de call manager, que ofrece apliaciones UC All-in-one con presencia y mensajería instatánea, voz, vídeo y mensajería de voz, compartición de escritorio y multidonferencia… y en cualquier dispositivo y con total integracción con Microsoft Office.

Jabber facilita así a los empleados un sencillo mecanismo para encontrar con rapidez a otros colegas de trabajo, comprobar si están disponibles y a través de qué terminal y colaborar utilizando el método o dispositivo que prefieran.

The solution provides users with a unified communications client that can be deployed both locally (on-premise) and in cloud computing environments. With Jabber it is possible to easily go from an instant messaging conversation to voice or video communication or file sharing both from the office and on the go.

By being able to use the solution on a wide variety of platforms and from the most convenient location, workers can collaborate more quickly and efficiently, with the benefits that this entails: more agile decision making, advanced communication between employees and with workers from other companies and greater productivity.

High definition resolution based on the H.264 standard allows users to interoperate in high definition with Cisco TelePresence and other industry video solutions. In addition, users also benefit from multi-party video presence capability, so any interlocutor can simultaneously view multiple video users during group or team communications.

In the demonstration area, also highlight the Show and Share solution, which allows the capture, transformation and sharing of video from any device. This solution, intended for corporate environments, allows you to record video from any device and upload it to the server for immediate cataloging, editing, indexing by chapters, automatic transcription... being accessible in real time by any user, according to access privileges, on any device.

Associate Miner

The professionals who have come to Rock The Cloud have also stopped in the area dedicated to showing Social Miner, a solution that works as a true digital ear of networks since it monitors all social networks according to the parameters that we want to define according to tags, users, keywords... But in addition to monitoring the networks, Social Miner from Cisco is capable of creating alarms and referring the information obtained on the networks to different departments. In this way, if a user posts a negative comment about a company's service, the system would generate an alarm for the customer service department to follow up online, through a call center or in person.

Finally, we should also highlight an interesting proposal for the migration from an IPv4 protocol to the new IPv6, since Cisco has developed an application capable of reassigning the new IPs transparently, ensuring a flexible and uninterrupted migration.

New BBVA CPDs

Fernando Martínez, director of Systems Technology at BBVA's CPD Europe, has revealed in this Rock The Cloud some of the keys with which BBVA intends to launch four new CPDs (two in Tres Cantos -Madrid- for Europe and another two in Mexico -DF and Monterrey-) from now on in 2014.

The first of the two DPCs that BBVA has begun to build will be the first in Europe, and the fourth in the world, with Tier IV certification in design and construction

With this project BBVA wants to be at the forefront of technology and security by building a CPD that supports the banking entity's international growth plans.

The new CPD in Madrid will have a useful area of 20,000 m² (with 54,000 m² of total area).
Designed with two levels of redundancy, which guarantees uninterrupted operation of operations, even while maintenance activities are carried out, the new CPD is powered directly by high voltage, with its own electrical substation and eight generating sets.

The building is equipped with efficient energy use systems, such as an advanced cooling system, and will have a control room for 26 operators who will supervise all the center's activity on a 35.2-meter video wall with a resolution of 51.3 million pixels.

London 2012

Maite Márquez, director of operations at Cisco and directly involved in the London 2012 project, has explained the reasons that have led Cisco to be the official sponsor of the network infrastructure of the Olympic Games. “This will be an opportunity to be with our partners at the heart of the largest world event, helping to build a better future for the current and future generations with a great technological legacy after the Games,” stated Mázquez.

Cisco's network infrastructure is the heart of the Games, with 1,800 wireless access points and 65,000 ports, with a totally reliable, robust and secure network. This network will provide service to more than 22,000 journalists, 21,000 athletes, in addition to all the personnel involved in these Olympics.

“Although technology is only one part, it is noteworthy that the services team is essential, contributing our proven help center offering 24/7 support for LOCOG and Cisco customers for more than two decades,” he assured.

This network, whose service will be provided by Cisco and deployed by BT, will support both traffic and signal routing, wireless communications, IP telephony, security...

Smart cities

Ignasi Errando, technical director at Cisco, highlighted in Rock The Cloud that cities are growing following patterns based on connectivity or what some call Smart Cities. This evolution will allow us to improve the quality of life of citizens, communicate more and be more sustainable with the environment. Errando has emphasized the service delivery platform that will allow the development of this new concept of a city covered by a network and software in which all the applications that make our daily lives easier are placed on top.

Cisco is collaborating with Barcelona City Council to develop a Situation Room capable of supervising in real time all the information that affects the city: groundwater and rainwater service, energy, transportation, traffic, smart parking... in short, integrating ICT, water, energy, matter, mobility... under the same umbrella, also defining an Internet of Things protocol.

Telefónica facing new challenges

Juan Manuel Moreno, director of business marketing at Telefónica, closed the presentation session at this Rock The Cloud conference, recalling that Spain is the leader in Europe in the penetration of smartphones, using them on average one and a half a day. On the other hand, social networks offer more than 30 billion pieces of content (on Facebook alone), and YouTube is the fourth most viewed channel in Spain.

By the end of this year, there will be more than 200 million connected devices around the world, a figure that will rise to 43 billion in 2020. "This context will mean an opportunity in areas such as E-commerce, Smart Cities, E-health, means of payment, big data, floppy management... In parallel, there will be an accelerated adoption of the cloud. And we operators will be key in all these ecosystems that will mark the digital revolution. The challenge is that within the company, CIOs must transform at the same speed that individual users are adapting technologies in their daily lives,” Moreno assured.