Cisco: 2014 Will Be Key Tipping Point for Internet of Everything

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At his keynote at CES, Cisco CEO John Chambers said 2014 will be the "transitional, pivotal year" for the Internet of Everything.

At the CES Tech Titans keynote addresses Tuesday, Cisco (CSCO) CEO John Chambers enthusiastically ran on to the stage, delivering a vision of an age with unprecedented technology - set to eclipse even the first Internet boom, and stating that he believes 2014 will be the "transformational, pivotal point" for the Internet of Everything (IoE). 

In this next massive wave of change, Cisco predicts the number of connected things will grow to between 15 and 25 billion by 2015, before exploding to 40 or 50 billion by 2020. The framework the company presents to foster this dynamic IoE environment is the intelligent connection of people, process, data and things, with 'people' being most paramount.

“Cisco has led customers through every Internet transition over the last 30 years," said Blair Christie, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Cisco. "The Internet of Everything is perhaps the most promising of these, creating unprecedented opportunities for organizations, individuals, communities and countries to realize dramatically greater value from networked connections between people, processes, data and things. We are working to harness the IoE’s power and promise to connect the unconnected, and we look forward to showcasing several life-changing scenarios for the IoE, here at CES in Las Vegas.”

Cisco estimates that the enterprise value of the intersection of these elements presentss a $14.4 trillion opportunity for the private sector, which can increase global aggregate corporate profits by about 21 percent. Cisco's extensive research on the IoE appears in its 2013 IoE Value index, showing how firms from different industries in 12 countries are capturing the potential value made possbile by the increased connections in the IoE.

TV in the Cloud

Cisco announced it has expanded its Videoscape TV services delivery platform to include a host of new cloud video capabilities, including a Videoscape “as-a-service” offering and open cloud software technologies based on OpenStack. These added capabilities will help service providers and media companies enhance agility, increase revenue and reduce operating expenses, as well as capitalize on the Internet of Everything.

New Videoscape cloud capabilities include cloud software, which separates it from dedicated hardware and enables it to run on service provider and media company public and private cloud. To help service providers and media companies gain even more agility, Cisco is offering Videoscape Cloud Services. Utilizing the same software and APIs as the rest of Videoscape, Videoscape Cloud Services can be purchased “as a service” from Cisco on a consumption-based model. Cisco cloud fusion for Videoscape lets companies mix-and-match elements from all modes of deploying Videoscape, including performance-optimized hardware and software appliances, cloud software, and cloud services. The Videoscape Open UX foundation enhances functionality and performance of gateways, set-top boxes and connected devices running HTML5 applications.

“Videoscape leads the industry as a platform for delivering exciting video services and experiences. With these new Videoscape cloud capabilities, our customers have two additional ways to deploy Videoscape, meaning they can get new services to market faster than ever before," said Joe Cozzolino, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Video Infrastructure at Cisco. "Plus our unique Cisco Fusion strategy allows customers to mix-and-match deployment options to best grow revenue and reduce their overall costs to roll out video services, including exciting second screen, 4K video and IoE based Connected Life services.”

Winter Olympics powered with Videoscape

Highlighting the success of the new Videoscape cloud solution, Cisco announced that it has been selected to provide video hardware and cloud software components from its Videoscape TV services delivery platform to NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, to support transcoding and content management during its production of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Adding Cisco’s new cloud software components will provide NBC Olympics with a simple, agile, and elastic cloud architecture that supports the streaming of live and cloud-enabled on-demand Olympics sports content for on-site production in Sochi.

“Cisco is a trusted partner who we have marked many milestones with, collaborating on IP video contribution and multiscreen delivery, and now cloud-based infrastructure," said Craig Lau, Vice President, Information Technology, NBC Olympics. "We are excited about the benefits and options cloud-powered video services bring us, including added agility, portability, flexibility and scalability of our networks, to meet the demands, with much less engineering and prep time. As we approach our eighth consecutive Olympic Games together, we know we can rely on Cisco to bring it all together, and help us exceed our goals to deliver a seamless production on location in Sochi.”

Cisco is sponsoring the Internet of Everything track at CES in Las Vegas. The event conversation can be followed on Twitter hashtag #CES2014, and Cisco's #CiscoCES.