This time of year, all five major sports leagues are "in season". The raw emotion of competition and witnessing these finely tuned professional athletes overcome adversity to be the best in their fields can be exhilarating.

While these athletes are the most dominant in the world at their craft, they do not get there alone. Both teams and individual athletes invest in advice, encouragement, and direction from coaches on all aspects of their performance. Coaches bring years of experience, in-depth expertise, and knowledge of the latest advances in technology to give an athlete an "edge." And just as elite athletes are sought after, effective coaches who can unlock every bit of value out of the athletes are highly sought after as well.

So what does this all mean for your business? Cybersecurity is at the top of the "value" list for every organization. And just like a professional athlete can increase their value through effective coaching, you can increase the value of your security technology and in-house staff through effective security coaching.

Cisco Business Critical Services is built on the concept of sharing the power of Cisco expertise, gained over more than 30 years leading the technology industry. When you combine industry-leading security expertise with advances in digital technology and some of the best security intelligence in the world from Cisco Talos, you get the kind of coaching that can propel you in front of the competition.

Business Critical Services begins by working with you to ensure all the basics are secure. Then we help you maximize the effectiveness of your technology through assessments and program development. And finally we look to the future, and make sure you're set for all of the potential threats on the horizon. This is all done through an holistic lens with our consultants by your side, looking at your business and IT requirements, finding ways to make your security practice something that empowers you to predict opportunities, preempt risks, and navigate technology transitions.

Our coaching effectiveness can be clearly seen through our work with our clients. A large financial institution engaged us to help them with their overall security program, and in particular, monthly regulatory compliance audits and security incidents. Their operational structure was fragmented, with everyone attacking their individual goals. A lack of "team" focus meant breakdowns in communication and cooperation. Implementation of overarching security controls suffered as a result. We were able to help them:

• Implement a new security architecture and provide a solution to cyber management, regulatory compliance and efficient incident response procedures
• Achieve executive buy-in and approval for a new security architecture
• Create a proposal for more efficient incident response management for global implementation
• Develop and implement a new security communications plan that conveys the value, expectation, roles and responsibilities for all stakeholders across all functions of the financial institution

All individual teams have agreed to these measures, and they now function as a single unit with clear goals that help them all succeed.

Just as professional athletes have dedicated coaches to enable them to become the best in what they do as both individuals and a team, your business deserves the same type of coaching staff. Learn more about how Cisco Business Critical Security Services can elevate your security performance through effective coaching. Contact your Cisco account representative today.