Interop: Cloud and collaboration technologies are changing the CIO's responsibilities

Mobility, cloud, and collaboration technologies are changing enterprise requirements for CIOs. Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior The audience at the Interop 2012 show. The cloud Connect, cloud Network platform, which Cisco plans to launch this summer, is designed to help CIOs adapt to these changing requirements. The internet economy has made the enterprise IT department more important than ever, but it has also put more pressure on CIOs. These pressures will only increase with the advent of new technologies such as cloud, collaboration, and mobility, as these technologies produce a 24/7-full connection to the Enterprise, Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior said in a keynote address to interop in Tuesday. "CEOs are now looking to the IT department to generate profitable growth and flexibility for businesses," Warrior said. "The CIO's responsibilities are changing. Warrior says the convergence of cloud and mobility will drive new, collaborative ways of working with traditional text messages and all kinds of messaging tools with live video. "One of the top priorities for CIOs in the next few years is video traffic," Warrior added, adding that online video traffic will grow 4 times times over the next two years. With the development of cloud technology, CIOs must pay more attention to how to maintain connectivity with their employees, and must ensure that their products and facilities have access to real-time business analytics and communicate with each other-such as sending a message when inventory is low, or using data to anticipate failures ahead of time. "The Internet of Things is now there," Warrior said. Although the CIO has a greater say in executive layer due to the promotion of new business models, these trends also add considerable pressure to traditional IT departments ' responsibilities, such as networking and security. "This creates a fundamental need for risk management," Warrior said. At the same time, she notes, CIOs are also looking to be able to safely push these new paradigms forward in a cost-conscious environment. Warrior says global IT spending is expected to remain flat or down in the next few years. Cisco's response to these new needs is to rethink the way it builds its network. In this era of warrior called "immersive collaboration", networks must have visibility, awareness, security, flexibility, and manageability. One way Cisco is to make sure that its products are able to materialize these features in the SDN (software Definition Network). "We want everyone to think more about SDN from a historical perspective," he said. "Cisco plans to integrate the SDN concept into its cloud connect, a new cloud network platform that Cisco plans to launch in June, designed to connect data centers and cloud operations more securely and efficiently." A partner or in-house team can create Third-party software applications that add customized or specialized functionality to cloud connect. Tailored solutions are just one of four principles adopted by Cisco's next-generation network technology, Warrior said. The remaining three are the definitions of open ecosystems, cooperation and innovation. "The pace of change will continue to grow exponentially," warrior said.