Cisco Pushes AI, Machine Learning Out Across the Network

… the data center, campus, cloud and other domains, and now the plan is to integrate those domains through a common architecture. These integrations also will be available in the next DNA Center release.

The AI and machine learning services will use data not only from a single company but also bring in aggregated – and anonymized – data from other customers. Data is the key driver of machine learning and Cisco has more than three decades of data built up.

Cisco competitors like Arista Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Aruba Networks and VMware are all adopting AI and machine learning for network analytics and such capabilities like network segmentation for greater security and control. However, the company has the broad portfolio and security capabilities to create a more complete, integrated architecture while competitors are using acquisitions and partnerships, chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins said during a meeting with journalists.

CEO Chuck Robbins speaks to the media at Cisco Live 2019 in San Diego.

“Our advantage is that we’re going to have one seamless architecture and we have technology in all of them, so it should give quite a good head start,” Robbins said.

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, told Channel Futures that what Cisco is doing around AI, machine learning and the edge isn’t a surprise, but that it’s a “more mature articulation of how that happens.”

“It’s the most complete vision for Cisco on that, with the exclamation point of multiple domains,” Moorhead said. “Data is flowing through the network; therefore, the point at which to analyze it is the network.”

In the area of IoT, Liz Centoni, senior vice president and general manager of IoT at Cisco, noted that more than 65,000 customers have IoT programs underway, but that only 40% of them have moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage due to concerns around security, complexity and scaling. Centoni also said a large customer told her that they don’t know about 40% of the assets sitting in their environments.

Cisco is looking to address those concerns, such as with the announcement earlier this month that the vendor is buying Sentryo, which offers products that drive device visibility and security for industrial control system (ICS) networks. The deal is expected to close later this year.

The company also released the IR1101 industrial edge router, which supports Cisco’s SD-WAN offering to connect and handle data from IoT devices. It also is addressing industrial IoT needs with the Catalyst IE3400 Heavy Duty Series switch, which will be released in the summer, and the Catalyst IW6300 Heavy Duty access points in the fall.