IOS XE Next Generation Networks Deliver Digital Magic

Part 1 of 2

Arthur C. Clarke’s famous witticism that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” could easily apply to the plethora of applications that are at our fingertips. By touching an icon on a piece of glass you can summon a ride, order a meal, show the world what you are seeing at that very moment, buy almost anything (you can afford), transfer funds instantly, or stream a symphony. These apps are created by enterprises to make interacting with them as frictionless as possible, which in turn improves your experience and the likelihood of doing business with them again and again.

Enterprises are attempting to digitize as many business processes as possible through customer and workforce-facing apps to gain agility, quicken the pace of innovation, cut the costs of doing business, flummox their competitors, and improve customer experiences. In some cases, digitization means reducing the number of steps and the time it takes to complete a business process. In other instances, it unites disparate information resources, making them available from anywhere at any time in the cloud. In all cases, it’s also essential to provide access to sensitive information only to authorized people as needed to complete a task.

The familiar mobile apps you use every day represent the edge of digital transformation of many business processes. Every interaction with those apps sets in motion a digitized series of transactions between multiple processes to fulfill a request. Without knowing what actually happens behind the glass screen you are interacting with, it really does appear to be magic. But those same apps, carefully designed and developed to inform and enchant you, depend on another kind of ubiquitous magic—the networks that connect people, devices, and information globally. 

In part 1 of my latest Cisco blog post, read more about how Cisco's IOS XE enables organizations to build intent-based networks that enable digital magic.

Part 2 of my "Digital Magic" post is now available on Cisco Blogs.

Anand