Cisco: Internet of Things (IoT) Portfolio Review

Cisco is one the leading developers of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and offers a range of offerings across the market.

See below to learn all about Cisco’s IoT products and services and its presence in the market:

Cisco IoT Portfolio

Cisco Cyber Vision

Cisco Cyber Vision is an industrial control network (ICS) solution that allows full visibility and control over your assets and data. 

• Enforce security policies that don’t disturb production
• Insights that ensure production continuity, integrity, and safety
• Security monitoring at scale
• In-depth information to comply with regulations

Cisco Industrial Network Director 

Cisco Industrial Network Director (IND) is designed to manage industrial networks. It helps operations teams deploy and monitor ethernet switches.

• Improves system ability and reduces downtime
• Automate network operations and maintenance using RESTful API
• Network visualization with detailed topology maps
• Plug-and-play functionality to configure machine networks

Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage

Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage coordinates, manages, and orchestrates the digital engagement and communication in your network.

• Manage thousands of displays, digital media, and content delivery from a central control panel
• Customize advertisements to specific groups
• Feature-rich endpoint powered by PoE

Cisco Validated Designs

Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs) are used to validate, architect, and configure next-generation technologies and IoT networks. 

• Reduced risk by ensuring product compatibility and performance
• Extensively tested and reliable
• 24-hour support options

Cisco Edge Intelligence

Cisco Edge Intelligence is an IoT data orchestration platform. It delivers data from connected edge devices to the cloud.

• Complete data control, governance, and ownership
• Out of the box easy deployment with an all-in-one solution
• Seamlessly extract, transform, and share data from connected ends
• Built-in Cisco security

Cisco IOx

Cisco IOx is an infrastructure framework. It allows developers and operators to onboard legacy and greenfield apps to the IoT edge structure at a scale.

• Accelerates outcomes by executing apps in the edge
• Supports open-source development tools and programming models and languages
• Streamlines real-time data processing

Cisco IoT Field Network Director

Cisco IoT Field Network Director is a platform for managing multi-service networks of Cisco industrial products, grid routers, and endpoints.

• Zero-touch deployment (ZTD)
• Optimization of constrained bandwidth networks
• Rich APIs for third-party integration
• Scalable to manage tens of thousands of routers and millions of mesh endpoints

Cisco DNA Center

Cisco DNA Center is the main management and automation software for Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA). It is a management platform for SD-access and intent-based networks as well as existing traditional networks. 

• Provides insights into performance, interference, and application experience
• On-demand statistics using packet capture
• Provides guidance based on AI-baselining
• Provides a zero-trust network

Cisco vManage

Cisco vManage is a centralized network management system. It allows you to easily monitor, configure, and maintain all connected devices through a GUI.

• A centralized dashboard to simplify network operations
• Highly visual interface
• Extends control across SD-WAN fabric and edge cloud
• Automates deployment, configuration, and management of Cisco SD-WAN

See more: The Internet of Things (IoT) Market

Cisco IoT Partners

The Cisco partner program helps the company maintain performance levels as innovation in the IoT market accelerates. 

By joining the Cisco partner ecosystem, partners and clients have further access to expertise to design, architect, deploy, manage, and support IoT solutions.

Cisco has many types of IoT parters that can support a variety of client uses cases.

Cisco IoT Use Case

One of Cisco’s prominent clients is the Swedish mining company Boliden.

Boliden aims to meet regional demand for raw materials while maintaining worker safety. For that, they needed a reliable industrial network architecture that can function over a kilometer underground.

The solution consisted of a collaboration between Sandvik’s OptiMine and AutoMine software and Cisco’s industrial, low-latency IoT switches and access points.

“Autonomous vehicles make it possible for our operators to be in a cleaner and healthier environment. The Cisco network also enables us to automate operational management,” says Jacob Wallen, mine automation engineer at Boliden.

“Using OptiMine, we can track assets in real-time, people, and vehicles.”

Boliden was able to optimize the efficiency of controlling mining machines, automate mining equipment and operations, and drastically improve worker safety.

See more: How the Internet of Things (IoT) is Used by Volkswagen Group, BigBelly Solar, Deep Sky Vineyards, Citizen Care Pod, and Canutillo Independent School District: Case Studies

User Reviews of Cisco IoT

Reviews from third-party websites are favorable for Cisco’s IoT solutions and services.

G2: 4.3 out of 5

Gartner: 4.8 out of 5

Capterra: 4.4 out of 5

Industry Recognition of Cisco IoT

Cisco continues to earn peer recognition in the IoT industry year after year.

In 2021, numerous IoT solutions offered by Cisco were dubbed “Top-Rated” in their respective areas by TrustRadius.

The year prior, Cisco won the Industrial IoT Innovation of the Year award in the IoT Breakthrough Award Program.

Cisco in the IoT Market

Cisco holds one of the largest market shares in the IoT and edge computing markets. They became the leader in the industrial edge networking market in 2017, and in 2020, they held 19.5% of the market, ahead of both Siemens and Belden.

See more: Best IoT Platforms & Software