IT Management Sessions Focus on Change and Opportunities at Cisco Live Latin America 2014

Many months of preparation preceded this great event, which was held in Cancun, Mexico, November 3rd through the 6th. In IT, we spend long hours of strategy and collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Services, consulting firms, and many other groups getting ready to produce a valuable experience and interesting content for customers and other attendees of the IT Management sessions…

The end result was a completely sold out registration with an energetic audience wanting to learn about the benefits and the opportunity of the Internet of Everything (IoE), Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) / Cloud, Security, Collaboration, and Services transformation.

On the first day, we opened the sessions with IoE and macroeconomics and how the evolution of technology will continue at a much faster pace, if that is even possible to imagine. We continued the day with a presentation by Guillermo Diaz, SVP IT on The Future State of IT. One of the many remarkable points that stuck with me is that “Change can happen by us, to us, or with us… what do we choose?” Now that technology is at the forefront of every business productivity enabler we in IT have the responsibility to step up and lead the change.

Security is always top of mind, and customers and other attendees in our Security session were interested in knowing how Cisco IT addresses security in terms of strategy. Practical advice and best practices were shared. One of the most engaging sessions of the program was the intersection of IoE and Mobility followed by a demonstration on how this comes to live at Cisco thanks to our collaboration solutions.

The day continued with an introduction to Services Transformation and How to Build Your Services Catalog. We closed with an interactive panel on Building Your Leadership Brand.

Let’s not forget the beautiful setting of Cancun and the energy it brings out of everyone. With the sessions already in progress, keynotes, networking opportunities, and partner-sponsored events, you could feel how we all were becoming more connected, informed, and relaxed.

By day two we already knew the audience, and they could connect with us. This led to a very engaging day of activities that started with a keynote from Joseph Bradley, Director of Consulting Services at Cisco. His very entertaining presentation brought us a lot of information and awareness. Later we took a deep dive into IoE Proof Points and ACI, which provided a focused view on how Cisco IT is enabling IoE for the enterprise.

Lastly, the closing part of the day was spent with a panel of IT subject matter experts discussing topics such as Mobility, Collaboration, Security, and Video.

At the end of the program, we felt a collective sense of achievement and team building. Delivering the best of what we do with the best of our resources for a successful Cisco Live inspires pride in who we are, our teams, and being at Cisco.