Cisco Live is always a 'High Energy' event, and this week at San Francisco proved no different.

It was also a place where Energy companies themselves had come to learn about the newest trends and product solutions from Cisco and, just as important, to mingle and network with peers and industry thought leaders.

The 'World of Solutions' had a number of examples of Energy Industry Solutions aimed at business needs, not just "bits and bytes". One example was the use of OSISoft's Pi software which can run directly in Cisco Grid Routers. OSISoft and Cisco are partnering to improve real-time gathering and monitoring of process data in the the Utilities and Oil and Gas Industries. The Pi Software actually runs on the Cisco router as a form of 'Fog Computing'. A thermal camera was shown collecting data (a heat lamp in this demo) and the information from that 'Internet of Things' thing was sent in real time across the network. This kind of solution can alert supervisors of a possible problem, and allow faster remediation. That kind of real-time data monitoring and fast reaction over the network can save lives. More of that in a future blog, when I'll be telling you more about the business benefits Utilities and Oil and Gas companies are getting from this kind of Cisco technology today.

One of the highlights for me had to be the arrival of Alan Matula on stage with John Chambers. Alan is EVP and CIO at Royal Dutch Shell. It was quite allegorical to see both industry leaders on stage together. Here was not a supplier/customer relationship, but a business partnership between Shell and Cisco aimed at producing successful business outcomes.

Alan talked about"Innovation is in our DNA", and "We are a technology Company first and an oil company after that". Clearly strong synergies with Cisco -the Cisco Live event is a poster-child for Innovation! Alan added that they have "...A very different business model supported by Cisco technology".

Shell also talked about how Cisco was partnering with them to address critical infrastructure security, and how they didn't want sales people, although salespeople are good, they need people who can help them turn technology into business processes and outcomes. My colleague Joseph Bradley tweeted: #CLUS#IoE Shell CIO and EVP on stage with Chambers. Shell has reinvented its DNA..."Failure has to be supported" IOE is not without failure.John Chambers added to Alan Matula's comments: "Shell has taken the Internet of Everything to new levels." More about Shell in one of my future blogs too, as Cisco is sharing the challenges with it's customers including companies such as Royal Dutch Shell.

Look out for my future blogs giving you more insights into the Cisco Live 2014 event -focusing on the Energy Industry.