Internetwork Engineering Blog

The events of 2020 have already presented challenges to organizations across the globe. As businesses have rushed to implement work-from-home models, IT professionals have felt the sudden and expansive demands of maintaining secure network connectivity for a large number of people housed in various locations. Simplicity and efficiency have been key for ensuring smooth business continuity in this new, remote environment.

With that in mind, is this the year to seriously consider implementing a Digital Network Architecture (DNA)? In fact, should you even care about Cisco DNA? There are many factors to consider when deciding whether Cisco DNA is the right solution for your business. A few questions to explore are:

President Trump signed two separate Enhanced 911 (E911) changes into law in 2018. Both are designed to improve Americans’ access to emergency services regardless of the underlying voice communications platform. Complying with these changes may involve additional licensing and other expenses in 2020.

A short time ago, our IE account team met with a customer to show-off the new SparkBoard from Cisco. When challenged by the customer that they were pretty much already set on a competitive solution, I made the comment that they should at least entertain our conversation because the newer video units were now more affordable than ever and amazingly easier to use than their predecessors. The customer was skeptical and told me, “I’ll be the judge;” so we set out to make our case.

For years, we’ve heard about Software Defined Networking (SDN), and while the hype has been tremendous, we in the engineering community have joked that SDN stands for “Still Does Nothing”. Now that that SDN has been overhyped, marketers have moved on to terms like SD-Access (or SD-WAN) and Digitization. So, when Cisco recently announced their Digital Network Architecture, or DNA, the engineering community reacted with a collective yawn. Just another marketing term, right? Is this just an attempt to erase stale connotations of the first-generation SDN? Not exactly, as it turns out. Where SDN was the automation of network management, Cisco DNA is the automation of the network itself, or  “digital networking”.