I have a keen interest in the Latin American region because several of my closest friends and my respected colleagues are from this region. Also, internal market forces and global demand are accelerating the rate of data center projects, further heightening my interest. Last year, I visited the region where I got to see data center build outs and realized the extent of the "greenfield" opportunity. I very recently got acquainted with Daniel Garcia, a 12-year Cisco veteran and Security Specialist sales engineer covering the Latin American region. I found his insights most valuable and different to what I usually hear.

For Daniel the greatest difference between the Latin American Region and other regions is the number of Greenfield data center projects. But Daniel finds that many customers are looking for "cookie cutter" solutions that they implement into their environments without much customizing. This was something I hadn't heard before but which makes excellent sense. The reason for this approach is that many customers lack in-house IT expertise and require proven solutions. The benefits of this approach mean less risk, less cost and with any validated solutions, far less time in production and testing. The downside is that each organization has distinct needs according to their business line and size, and their risk tolerance will vary. Daniel works with his customers to tweak data center reference architectures to provide customers with a tailored and secure data center environment.

On the subject of IT security, Daniel finds that regulatory compliance obligations are strong drivers for IT security spending, and, while being compliant does not equal security, this has helped accelerate security technology investments. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is a key driver for banks and retail organizations alike. PCI DSS differs among Latin American economies because they generally having a more relaxed timeline with which to comply.

Daniel also finds that there is rich opportunity for service providers with the number of small businesses or organizations that don't have IT infrastructure or IT security skills in house. The opportunity lies in the ability for service providers to differentiate themselves among customers on the level of security coverage and expertise they provide.

Cisco is in a unique position to address these trends in Latin America. Cisco-validated designs that include security as part of an end-to-end architecture and that undergo rigorous testing before being released are perfect for service providers and enterprises looking for designs that can be quickly implemented. For organizations in the Latin America region that have both data center infrastructure and security projects and are interested in learning more about a Cisco end-to-end data center validated designs, contact Daniel Garcia