First Take: Analysts Dissect Cisco’s Network Revolution

Cisco’s announcement of The Network. Intuitive last week might have seemed to some like an overwhelming amount of information. As experts begin to sort through it, though, a clear consensus is emerging: Intuitive networking is important.

Many of Cisco’s customers seem to already understand just how game-changing the Network. Intuitive. is, based on the crowd reactions to Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins’ Monday keynote at Cisco Live.   They’re not alone — technology analysts are excited too.

(Note: There is no way to fully explain the meat of the announcement here. Long story short, Cisco has released a new suite of products, with a few more coming soon, that enable a network capable of learning over time to become more responsive, anticipating needs and  automating the many meticulous management tasks that an enterprise network requires. Click here for more.)

Technology Analyst Zeus Kerravala is one example. “Given Cisco has been the market leader in networking for decades now, does the launch of a new network system really warrant its own event, and is it a big deal?” he wrote in a blog post after the announcement. “I believe it does and is… and that over time we’ll look back on this launch as a seminal moment in Cisco’s next act.”

We like that vote of confidence; Kerravala is no newcomer to watching tech. I remember interviewing him several times years ago, when he was an analyst at The Yankee Group and I was a reporter at Federal Computer Week. He knows networking technology, and he’s seen enough would-be revolutionary technologies come and go that it’s safe to trust he knows the real deal when he sees it. (Also, he shares his name with the king of the Greek gods, so he must be very wise, and able to control lightning.)

Kerravala’s unreserved affirmation is welcome, but he’s hardly the only one offering it.

Patrick Moorehead in Forbes: “I think intent-based networking will likely be the wave of the future—with the proliferation of devices, and the constantly expanding surface it has to cover, networking simply must get faster and smarter. It looks like Cisco might have a winner on its hands.”

Gene Reznik, senior managing director of ecosystem & ventures for Accenture: “A different approach needs to be taken to really secure and enable the kind of network connectivity that is required. The reason why we’re excited about [Cisco’s announcement] is because we do believe that intent-based networking is really required to manage the billions of devices that our customers have.”

Cisco’s intent-based networking will move businesses and government agencies into the future, enabling capabilities never before practical. Click here for much, much more.