As I meet more and more with our customers and partners, it's clear that regardless of what industry you are in (retail, medical, agriculture, etc...) every company is becoming a technology company. Cisco's role in IT is increasingly challenging. Not only do we need to keep the lights on, but we also need to jump on, test, and use the latest and greatest technology coming out. We are at a pivotal moment where the business is looking to us to help transform the business, innovate, and accelerate those outcomes with technology.

In Cisco IT, we have a unique position that we are the IT shop for a technology company. Cisco on Cisco is at the center of IT. We are the first ones to deploy Cisco technologies and solutions on enterprise environments. We drive business outcomes, accelerate productivity gains, generate cost savings and accelerate transformational business benefits. By sharing out knowledge through case studies, videos, IT expertise, customer engagements, and technical workshops, Cisco on Cisco provides thought leadership that enables our customer's growth and success. We aim to inspire through our innovations and results orientated strategy.

Next month at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, I am really excited to be a part of The Cisco Blueprint Studio for the second year in a row. The Cisco Blueprint Studio is a one-of-a-kind executive briefing center, designed specifically for CIO's with aggressive goals and don't have a lot of time to waste. This studio offers my CIO peers to get access to Cisco's subject matter experts to answer and inform their digital transformation decisions.

In one place, at one time, CIO's will get 30 days of strategic planning in 30 minutes with access to Cisco's experts. They get to share and solve organizational issues in their own unique business context aligned to their vertical.  Each exclusive appointment is comprised of a personalized planning session with an SME to map out their very own custom actionable plan to address their key digitization priorities. Last year, meeting with my fellow peers, sharing our knowledge with them, hearing their stories and learning from them was one of my favorite parts of Gartner Symposium/ITxpo. I am really looking forward to this year's event and hope to see you in Orlando at The Cisco Blueprint Studio!

About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world's most important gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective content with the authority and weight of the world's leading IT research and advisory organization, and provides access to the latest solutions from key technology providers. CIOs and IT executives rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. For more information, please visit www.gartner.com/us/symposium.