I just returned from Cisco Live and the vibe was incredible. We had over 25,000 customers attend this event and additional partners and Cisco employees that pretty much took over San Diego. I had the pleasure of spending most of my time in the Connected Factory Experience Manufacturing vignette, as part of the industry stories in the World of Solutions part of the conference. This was truly the biggest business area in a key vertical for Cisco. During this time frame, I was able to speak with about 200 customers and the resounding feedback was that we are spot on with IoT, IoE and Business Outcomes.We had demonstrations in the World of Solutions that revolved around industrial use cases including security and analytics.

In customer meetings, manufacturers were looking for guidance on where to start with the Internet of Everything and Industrial IoT. In fact, John Chambers' farewell keynote which focused on the messages of 'Disrupt your industry or be disrupted' resonated well with attendees. There was a strong, consistent theme of change, disruption, connecting your company and connecting your world as well as how Cisco can help. I also felt more of a sense of urgency for network and IT managers and professionals to be more engaged with the lines of business. Everyone understands that being more creative, disruptive and closer to the business positions IT to be integral to meeting industrial imperatives.

We have been working with quite a few customers to start their IoT journey. Despite IoT being a relatively recent trend, we have been working with a very innovative food manufacturing company in the Midwest who is embarking on a new facility and wanted to build the "factory of the future" or "digital Factory" and fully embraced Cisco to help them down this journey. While it is a bit easier with a green field or brand new factory, there are still issues with identification and starting pilot projects.

Hopefully you were also at Cisco Live, and you had time to check out the Connected Factory Experience. If not, please reach out and I would be happy to have a discussion with you 1:1. We have best practices you can leverage to get you business results faster. Thanks for reading.