Cisco to Help Deliver the Most Connected Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Ever

PRESS RELEASE
Cisco to Help Deliver the Most Connected Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Ever

Cisco/Pan Am Games Toronto 2015 Sponsor Logo

TORONTO, August 29, 2012 – The Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) today announced a comprehensive partnership agreement with Cisco that will help make the TORONTO 2015 Games the most connected Pan Am/Parapan Am Games ever.

As a Premier Partner, Cisco is the exclusive official information and communications technology provider delivering voice, video and data technologies, including collaboration and HD video conferencing solutions such as Cisco TelePresence®.  Cisco will be involved in all stages of the Games, supporting their planning, delivery and legacy aspects related to productivity, efficiency, collaboration, technology and innovation. Cisco will also customize the design of fan engagement solutions to deliver an unprecedented experience.

"The addition of Cisco significantly strengthens our sponsorship portfolio," said Ian Troop, TO2015 Chief Executive Officer. "Cisco's innovative technology and wealth of global sport and entertainment experience—most recently at the Olympic Games in London—will play an  integral key role in helping us connect venues in communities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe during the Games, and help to bring the ‘People's Games' directly to the people."

A market leader, Cisco's superior network connectivity and borderless approach will connect venues, communities and people across the Games footprint and beyond. Cisco will build an end-to-end network infrastructure for the Games including wireless, network security, collaboration, video, TelePresence, unified compute and cloud services, and will offer customized Cisco Connected Stadium Wi-Fi and StadiumVision™ solutions to fully engage fans in experiencing the Games. In addition, Cisco's video and collaboration technologies will enable TO2015 to quickly and easily engage with sponsors, partners, suppliers and volunteers.

"At Cisco we see the opportunity to partner with the TORONTO 2015 Games as twofold," said Nitin Kawale, President, Cisco Canada. "First, to use network technologies to create the most connected, most fan-friendly Pan Am Games ever. Secondly, beyond supporting the sporting event itself, it's about building a future and investing in the community by leaving a technology legacy that will serve the region long after the Games are over. Cisco will bring our Smart+Connected Communities suite of solutions and expertise on board to deliver the ultimate TORONTO 2015 experience and leave a long-lasting legacy for Ontario. We are looking forward to being part of the Pan Am excitement, before, during and after the Games."

Cisco's broad portfolio of products and services, particularly its Smart+Connected Communities business architecture solutions, will play a vital role in the development of the Games. Cisco and TO2015 will endeavour to leave a technology legacy which will continue to serve educational institutions and communities, and promote innovation, productivity and economic sustainability long after the Games. To further the technology legacy vision, Cisco will create a partner ecosystem to support the technology planning and deployment for the Games, providing increased opportunities for solutions providers, system integrators and application developers.

"Cisco is delighted to team with TO2015," said Blair Christie, Senior Vice-President, Government Affairs and Chief Marketing Officer for Cisco. "With Cisco's experience as the networking supplier of choice for many of the world's premier sports and entertainment venues, we look forward to helping TO2015 deliver the best connected fan experience to date. Together we will reimagine the fan experience, bringing fans and the Games together, across an intelligent network, from next door or half a world away."

"The Harper Government is pleased to recognize Cisco's support for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games," said Ted Opitz, Member of Parliament (Etobicoke Centre). "As the single largest contributor to sport in Canada, our Government continues to encourage the private sector to step up in support of the Canadian sport system. By becoming a Premier Partner, Cisco has set a positive example of corporate Canada's belief in these Games."

"The McGuinty government is proud of Cisco's involvement in the Pan and Parapan American Games," said Charles Sousa, Minister responsible for the Pan/Parapan Am Games.  "Cisco will connect us to the "People's Games" and help make them affordable and accessible for all Ontarians."

"Our government has a strong partnership with Cisco which is helping us build a strong Ontario and make the province an innovation leader," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Innovation. "Cisco's technology expertise will be critical to the success of the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games."

About the TORONTO 2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games

The Pan American Games are one of the world's largest international multi-sport events, held every four years for athletes of the 41 member nations of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). The Games comprise all Olympic Summer Games sports, as well as traditional Pan American sports. The TORONTO 2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games will draw 10,000 athletes and officials and feature 48 sports in municipalities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe area. The TORONTO 2015 Pan American Games will take place July 10–26 and the Parapan American Games August 7–14. For more information about the Games, please visit toronto2015.org.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. For ongoing news, visit http://newsroom.cisco.com and http://newsroom.cisco.com/canada.

PRESS RELEASE

Cisco Introduces Connected Video Surveillance Delivered on Cisco Unified Computing System

Virtualized Applications on the Network Support Massive Scalability and Performance Increases; Reduce Total Cost of Ownership For Large Scale Safety and Security Operations

Related Information

Banka Postanska Stedionica, Serbia

The Cisco Serbia team for the Banka Postanska Stedionica discuss the physical security deployment

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 21, 2012 – Cisco today announced thatCisco® Video Surveillance software is available on Cisco's award winning Unified Computing System™  (Cisco UCS™) platform, now in use by more than 11,000 customers. By virtualizing Cisco Video Surveillance software, Cisco is providing significantly improved levels of performance, scalability, agility and manageability.

Cisco Physical Security solutions enable organizations to transform the way they protect people, property and critical infrastructure. The virtualization of these solutions with Cisco Unified Data Center applications is part of Cisco's strategy to move toward a solutions-led building block approach for the complete Cisco Physical Security portfolio, resulting in an optimized IP network and Physical Security foundation.

This announcement is the next step in Cisco's physical security strategy, providing customers with hyper-scalability and capacity, lower cost of ownership and simplified management. This news follows the Cisco physical security strategy evolution announced in Fall 2011 which aligned Cisco strengths with market opportunities and customer requirements to focus on large-scale strategic deployments. This provides customers with a combination of Cisco physical security products, services, third-party products and systems, and core networking, data center, video and collaboration offerings to support business needs.

The Video Surveillance Manager on UCS solution represents the first Cisco Video Surveillance Building Block that meets the deployment requirements for large-scale city, transportation, healthcare and energy requirements.

Key Facts:

• Modular UCS platform building blocks support massive scalability increases of up to 1,000 percent versus dedicated server solutions, allowing customers to scale to tens of thousands of cameras, delivering networked video surveillance for commercial, disaster and first responder needs, as well as large events.
• With a new rapid provisioning deployment model for large-scale city surveillance, transportation, critical infrastructure, energy, healthcare and other industries, Cisco Video Surveillance Manager provides centralized management with improved situational awareness and real-time response capabilities.
• UCS Express extends video surveillance as a service on the network as an easy-to-deploy, virtual solution with application consolidation on a blade-form factor for equipment that already exists in many branch offices.
• As part of an end-to-end solution, Cisco UCS offers infrastructure consolidation in the data center with innovative virtualization, memory, provisioning, I/O and management capabilities. Cisco UCS Express integrates the compute platform with all-in-one device convergence to facilitate the extension of data center applications into the branch.
• Management provided by the Cisco Unified Data Center, Unified Management, Unified Fabric and Unified Computing Systems delivers IT agility for fast provisioning, flexibility and lower operating costs.
• Highly secure separation capabilities for multi-tenant environments increase logical security and access control.
• Modular, scalable, high-density, and energy efficient, Cisco Physical Security Storage series platforms, as well as industry leading storage options from EMC and NetApp, will be available for use with Virtualized Video Surveillance as this solution is extended to the UCS B-Series and C-Series platforms.
• Cisco Capital® offers a variety of flexible financing offers to streamline the acquisition of Cisco products and services.

Supporting Quotes:

• Guido Jouret, general manager, Enterprise Video Group, Cisco, said: "Virtualizing video surveillance offers organizations reduced infrastructure costs, faster disaster recovery and deployment, reduced staffing needs and cooling costs, and improved application performance. Our solutions-led building block strategy focuses on virtualizing all Cisco software applications with Cisco Unified Data Center applications to support optimal end-to-end video quality."

• Dragisa Lojanica, head of IT, Banka Postanska Stedionica, Serbia, said: "The value of our recent Cisco deployment became evident soon after it was enabled. Cisco experts proved their in-depth understanding of our need to create a modern and efficient security surveillance infrastructure to help ensure that our customers and employees are protected, while streamlining operations, improving business efficiency and cutting costs."

• Dave Temple, assistant director of Technology Strategy, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, said: "Cisco Video Surveillance solutions increase our confidence that our students are protected with the highest quality products and support. Loughborough University is actively embracing the cloud model of service delivery using Cisco UCS at the core of its co-operative cloud system. The virtualized deployment model of the 6.3.2 release, based on Cisco's proven designs for modular building block solutions supported by lifecycle services, will dramatically improve management, scalability, performance and lower total cost of ownership while helping to significantly reduce risks."

• Rohan Mendis, telecommunications strategy manager, Transport for Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, said: "Cisco has provided a scalable platform solution to Transport for Greater Manchester, in support of our efforts to provide a safe and secure environment for the travelling public, our staff and visitors to our City. We see the introduction of a virtualised cloud solution as part of the latest Cisco 6.3.2 release as a natural and positive development that will further improve the resilience, availability and cost effectiveness of the existing architecture, and is exciting both for us and for the technology sector as a whole. In our opinion, this approach will reduce design and network risks, improve affordability, and we welcome the scalability and management opportunities for improvement that this change enables."

Availability:

• Video Surveillance Software release 6.3.2 is available now on UCS Express.
• The software is scheduled to be available on other platforms including Cisco UCS B and C Series in June 2012.
• Pricing for the UCS Express-based solution block starts from $2500.

Supporting Resources:

• To learn more, visit Cisco Physical Security: www.cisco.com/go/physec
• Cisco Video Surveillance for Unified Computing System Express data sheet:http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps6918/ps9145/ps9152/data_sheet_c78-703863.html
• Network readiness for IP video surveillance solution brief:http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps6918/ps9145/ps9152/solution_brief_c11-652089.pdf
• Network readiness assessment for video surveillance:http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Video/IPVS/IPVS_Network_Assessment.html
• Cisco-based high-performance network and video surveillance system installed in Russia's leading TV company, NTV: http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=706226
• Serbian Postal Savings Bank deploys Cisco Connected Physical Security solutions:http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=736354
• Case Study: Transportation agency centralizes video surveillance:http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps6918/ps9145/ps9152/casestudy_c36-610593.html
• Case Study: University cost-effectively expands video surveillance:http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps6918/ps9145/ps9152/Case_study_c36-562710.html
• Video: the Cisco Serbia team for the Banka Postanska Stedionica discuss the physical security deployment:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uiABWrcdo

Technorati Tags: Cisco, Physical Security, Video Surveillance, Safety & Security, UCS, Virtualized Security, UCS, UCS Express, BYOD, Multi-Tenant Data Center Architectures, Cisco Cloud, Cisco Video, Cisco Enterprise Video, Business Video, virtualization, unified data center

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com.

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Microsoft Dynamics: Translating Customers' Aspirations into Reality

News Press Release
Microsoft Dynamics: Translating Customers’ Aspirations Into Reality

Microsoft announces key releases and cloud road map for customers on the path to the Dynamic Business transformation.

inShare22

HOUSTON — March 19, 2012 — Customers of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) gathered today at Convergence 2012 to hear how Microsoft Business Solutions will help them become connected, forward-looking organizations. With an explicit commitment to simplicity and agility, Microsoft is designing software and cloud-based services that can help businesses be truly dynamic and inspire people to a higher level of commitment, innovation and leadership and, in turn, help businesses and people realize their full potential. Today at Convergence, Microsoft unveiled the evolution of its vision to help organizations become Dynamic Businesses. “People are the heart of every business, and Microsoft business solutions deliver on the promise of enabling people to do their best work through modern, elegant business applications that provide unrivaled time to value, simplicity and agility,” said Kirill Tatarinov, president, Microsoft Business Solutions, speaking to more than 10,000 attendees in the opening keynote presentation at Convergence 2012. “We are committed to the technical and business process innovation necessary to help customers transform into Dynamic Businesses.” Delivering Innovation for Dynamic Businesses Microsoft Dynamics has continued to deliver on its promise of providing innovation for Dynamic Businesses by announcing that much of its portfolio of business solutions will be updated by the end of calendar year 2012. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 launched last fall and was followed by Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Retail in February of this year. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2 will be available worldwide in Q4 calendar year 2012, and will deliver major industry enhancements such as multichannel retail capabilities with Web storefronts, as well as RoleTailored, in-context business intelligence using the latest Microsoft SQL Server technologies. Microsoft also announced that both Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 and Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 will be cloud-enabled for Windows Azure, optimized for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), and generally available in Q4 of calendar year 2012. The beta release for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 is expected in May 2012. In addition, the company reiterated its commitment that the next major release of Microsoft Dynamics AX will evolve as an enterprise cloud service offering from Microsoft. Earlier this year, Microsoft also announced the Q2 service update of Microsoft Dynamics CRM featuring native mobile support for popular mobile devices. In keeping with its commitment to release updates to its cloud service twice a year, Microsoft announced the next Microsoft Dynamics CRM service update will be available in Q4 calendar year 2012, delivering capabilities in social customer care and cloud-based data enrichment services. Microsoft Partners Help Customers Transform Into Dynamic Businesses Microsoft today announced that the independent software vendor (ISV) ecosystem for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 will offer multiple vertical services hosted on Windows Azure to provide customers with the specialized capabilities required for their businesses, from industrial equipment manufacturing to specialized retail and fashion, with more offerings becoming available over time. “I am excited by the opportunity that cloud provides To Increase to better serve our customers,” said Cornelis Bosch, chief executive officer of To Increase, a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and global ISV. “Our end-to-end industry solutions, powered by the strength of Microsoft Dynamics on Windows Azure, represent a comprehensive, consumer-centric, next-generation business solution for customers.” Microsoft also announced a number of significant global ISV partners supporting Dynamics AX 2012. Accenture (transportation services solution), Bull (public sector), Cincom Systems Inc. (complex enterprise and manufacturing solutions), and McLane Logistics Technology (distribution solution) have all chosen Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 as the foundation for their solutions for its modern architecture, flexibility and ease of use and for ensuring their customers a path to the cloud. These partners join Microsoft’s broad portfolio of other leading vertical global ISVs, which view Microsoft Dynamics as a critical component in helping propel customers to become connected, forward-looking enterprises. CareWorks (social services solution) and Redknee Inc. (customer care solution) are also entering the global ISV program, joining Ericsson (call center) and Convergys (customer care solution) to build their solutions on the innovation, flexibility and agility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Microsoft is also announcing a social intelligence alliance with InsideView Inc., a silver sponsor for Convergence 2012 and 2011 Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace Solution Excellence Partner of the Year. This alliance will allow customers to use the InsideView platform directly within Microsoft Dynamics CRM to analyze social media and user-contributed, traditional and proprietary editorial information to provide compelling insights about their customers directly within Microsoft Dynamics CRM at no additional cost. Dynamic Business Momentum Microsoft announced the latest Microsoft Dynamics CRM adoption numbers, with 33,000 customers and 2.25 million users, and is showcasing a record number of customers who are making the Dynamic Business transformation. Customers such as Hunter Douglas Group, Rockwater Energy Solutions and World Vision Inc. are taking advantage of the simplicity and agility that Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers today. Lotus F1 Team has chosen Microsoft Dynamics for its end-to-end business transformation, from design and manufacturing to retail and merchandising operations. Microsoft Dynamics helps customers, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Specialists On Call Inc., Nissin Foods Co., The Bradshaw Group Inc., Sta-Home Health & Hospice, Hydro Resources Inc., Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Jets, get to the heart of what really makes an organization successful. More information about Microsoft’s Dynamic Business vision can be found by downloading the new white paper at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/about.aspx. More information and news from Convergence 2012 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/dynamics. The opening keynote presentation and general session keynote speeches are available on the new virtual event platform for Convergence 2012. Those who want to follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics Twitter community can do so at @MSDYNCOMM using #CONV12.

PRESS RELEASE

Serbian Postal Savings Bank Deploys Cisco Connected Physical Security Solutions

In Addition to Physical Security, Several of the Bank's Key Functions, Including Call Center, Data Center and Stock Trading System Run on Cisco Intelligent Network and Cisco Unified Computing System

Related Information

Serbian Postal Savings Bank headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia

Serbian Postal Bank deploys video surveillance from Cisco

BELGRADE, Serbia, March 19, 2012 – Cisco today announced that Serbia's biggest retail bank, Banka Postanska Stedionica (Serbian Postal Savings Bank), has implemented a Cisco® Connected Physical Security Solution at its headquarters in Belgrade and across a network of over 40 branches in Serbia.

With the Internet Protocol (IP) network, video streams from any branch can be monitored from a PC in the central office or any other branch on the network. In addition to physical security, the bank is using the Cisco Borderless Network Architecture and Cisco Unified Computing System^TM to integrate data and voice communication, customer relationship management and data center on a single, intelligent and highly secure network platform.

Key Facts, Highlights:

• With more than 2 million customers and 1,500 employees, Banka Postanska Stedionica is a state-owned financial services group that has successfully completed several acquisitions over the past years. This, however, has meant that physical security systems, including video surveillance, had little standardization and were based on a variety of traditional closed-circuit TV (CCTV) solutions from different vendors, with only a small proportion attached to networked video recorders. Monitoring and maintenance had to be done at a branch level, which was far from efficient and, with little automation, relied on people being able to recognize and respond to events. It also made it virtually impossible to support a coordinated incident response.

• The objective of the bank was to replace its legacy analog systems with an end-to-end, branchwide surveillance system, thus improving the protection of clients and employees, making operation more efficient, and reducing costs.

• Banka Postanska Stedionica is using its Cisco Borderless Network Architecture with Cisco Integrated Services Routers as the foundation for physical security. The network connects 400 cameras, most of them high-resolution digital Cisco IP video surveillance cameras placed both indoors and outdoors.
• Cisco Video Surveillance Media Servers are used at the bank's headquarters and all branches to collect and route video from the cameras and encoders over the IP network. They also offer video archive capabilities, event tagging and bandwidth management for both live distribution and historical recording. Both live and recorded video content is virtually available to all authorized security personnel. Also, certain alarm and sensor systems are integrated so that events that trigger alarms can be matched with the video content.

• Com-4T doo, a Cisco Premier Certified Partner in Serbia, designed and installed a video surveillance management platform, including servers, archiving, and monitoring software. Com-4T also provided training for users.

Supporting Quotes:

• Dragisa Lojanica, head of IT, Banka Postanska Stedionica

"The value of the solution became evident soon after it was switched on. In one of our branches, a cashier accidentally gave a customer an overpayment of 20,000 Serbian dinars (about $275) and the video recording helped identify where the transaction had been made and to efficiently rectify it. Cisco and Com-4T doo experts had an in-depth understanding of our need to create a modern and efficient security surveillance infrastructure, while reducing our total costs by reusing equipment where appropriate. We now have a sound and flexible foundation for the future. As a next step, we are considering the integration of access control based on the network foundation."

• Geetha Dabir, vice president, Physical Security Business Unit, Cisco

"The need to protect critical assets is driving the demand for a more efficient use of physical security technologies powered by next-generation services. With the deployment of Cisco connected physical security solutions including Cisco Video Surveillance Media Servers, Banka Postanska Stedionica is helping to ensure that its customers and employees are protected, while streamlining operations, improving business efficiency and cutting costs."

Tags, Keywords: Cisco, Banka Postanska Stedionica, physical security, video surveillance, borderless network

RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds

Supporting resources:

• To learn more, visit Cisco Physical Security: www.cisco.com/go/physec
• Cisco Video Surveillance Media Server
• Cisco Safety and Security Solutions
• Medianet-enabled IP Video Surveillance
• Cisco IP Interoperability & Collaboration System (IPICS)
• Cisco Video Surveillance Manager Suite

Video:

• Serbian Postal Bank deploys video surveillance from Cisco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uiABWrcdo