Accelerating digital transformation requires transformation of the core infrastructure as well as the mode of operating the infrastructure. In my recent blog on the evolution of the Cisco Nexus portfolio, I discussed how new high-performance options for the Nexus 9000 portfolio are driving major transformations for enterprises and hybrid cloud infrastructure. In this blog I will delve into details of the new Cisco Nexus Cloud, which gives customers a new way of deploying, managing, and operating their Cisco Nexus networks from the cloud.

Nexus Cloud gives our customers the option to run their network operations as-a-service with simplicity, visibility, and sustainability. Nexus Cloud supports both our flagship Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) architecture as well as NX-OS based Nexus deployments. Our customers now have the choice to use Nexus Cloud (delivered as a service) and/or Nexus Dashboard (delivered as a product) to operate their cloud networking infrastructure. To make this truly a choice and keep licensing simple, customers can use the same switch license for full functionality in Nexus Cloud or Nexus Dashboard.

"Cisco's new Nexus Cloud raises the bar for simplicity by deploying, operating, and managing Nexus
infrastructure from the cloud. It will provide KBR with a critical tool for scaling out hybrid cloud strategies."

-Jeff Hawks,Global Director of Compute and Communications, KBR

Nexus Cloud provides unique and innovative options to bridge the performance and scale of NetOps with the speed, agility, and flexible consumption model inherent in CloudOps. This will help customers stay ahead of the major technology transitions impacting their IT environments including rapid digitalization and an exponential increase of workloads that have grown in scale, number, and complexity. In fact, with Nexus Cloud, we directly address the top three concerns (security, operational complexity, cost containment) that more than 2500 IT professionals ranked as their biggest challenges with their hybrid cloud operations.

Benefits of cloud-delivered network operations

Let's now take a closer look under the hood of Nexus Cloud and why I'm so excited to have it as part of our ever-growing Cloud Networking portfolio. Simply put, Nexus Cloud is the easiest way to monitor and manage a cloud network including those built with newest generation of the Nexus 9000 portfolio. Nexus Cloud will help customers transform how they manage and grow their global cloud networks through in the following ways:

• With no separate software or appliances needed to install and manage, Nexus Cloud will dramatically shrink time-to-value, something public cloud users have enjoyed for years.
• Nexus Cloud makes it easier than ever for IT teams to monitor and manage their cloud networking environment with simple and intuitive tools. This includes access to connected support and real-time analytics.
• With continuous innovations that are delivered as-a-service, Nexus Cloud customers are ensured of always having the latest features and functionality with little to no manual reconfiguration.
• Nexus Cloud is powered by Cisco Intersight, a proven and scalable automation platform. Customers will have access to Nexus Cloud and all Cisco Intersight services through role-based customer personas (e.g., NetOps, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering) for a personalized user experience.
• As a fully cloud-delivered service, Nexus Cloud can automatically scale as the network expands, enabling our customers to grow at the pace they need.

Key Customer Benefits

There are three key customer benefits we are focused on delivering with Nexus Cloud: simplicity, visibility, and sustainability. I'll cover each briefly:

Simplicity: Nexus Cloud makes configuration and onboarding of sites and devices as easy as possible through automated discovery and provisioning of network infrastructure. Nexus Cloud is secure while making ongoing compliance tracking and audits easier. And we have simplified the full lifecycle management of your cloud networking infrastructure. 

Visibility: Nexus Cloud empowers our customers with comprehensive visibility that correlates application and infrastructure telemetry across all their sites. This enables customers to quickly detect anomalies and deviations from baseline network performance. Customers can also mitigate risk with alerts that monitor infrastructure conformance, software upgrades, and security vulnerabilities. And with advanced intelligence and analytics, customers can get to root cause faster.

Sustainability: Nexus Cloud delivers for the first-time valuable sustainability insights to help customers understand their energy-usage along their journey to Net Zero. Customers have visibility into network energy consumption and costs as well as the carbon footprint of their managed devices. As part of Nexus Cloud's continuous innovation, future releases will enable customers to benchmark and then continually measure their total Power Utilization Effectiveness, or PUE.

More than ever, enterprises want the agility of a cloud-delivered service to maximize the full potential of their hybrid cloud and cloud networking investments. Cisco delivers on that ask with Nexus Cloud. With Nexus Cloud and Nexus Dashboard our customers now have the operational tools to accelerate their digital transformation.

How to get started

Nexus Cloud will be available for early field trials with select customers and partners in Q3CY22 with general availability in Q4CY22. For more information, please visit the Nexus Cloud product page.

Register for the Hybrid Cloud Demo Series webinar:

Introducing Cisco Nexus Cloud

Tuesday July 19 at 10 am Pacific