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Exam Code: 300-910 Practice test 2022 by Killexams.com team 300-910 Implementing DevOps Solutions and Practices using Cisco Platforms (DEVOPS) 300-910 DEVOPS
Certifications: Cisco Certified DevNet Professional, Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist - DevOps
Duration: 90 minutes
Exam Description
The Implementing DevOps Solutions and Practices Using Cisco Platforms v1.0 (DEVOPS 300-910) test is a 90-minute test associated with the Cisco Certified DevNet Professional and Cisco Certified DevNet Specialist - DevOps certifications. This test tests a candidate's knowledge of DevOps practices as it pertains to deployment automation that enables automated configuration, management, and scalability of cloud microservices and infrastructure processes on Cisco platforms. The course, Implementing DevOps Solutions and Practices Using Cisco Platforms, helps candidates prepare for this exam.
20% 1.0 CI/CD Pipeline
1.1 Describe characteristics and concepts of build /deploy tools such as Jenkins, Drone, or Travis CI
1.2 Identify the sequence, components, and integrations to implement a CI/CD pipeline for a given scenario
1.3 Troubleshoot issues with a CI/CD pipeline such as code-based failures, pipeline issues, and tool incompatibility
1.4 Identify tests to integrate into a CI/CD pipeline for a given scenario
1.5 Identify release deployment strategy (canary, rollbacks, and blue/green) for a given scenario
1.6 Diagnose code dependency management issues including API, tool chain, and libraries
15% 2.0 Packaging and Delivery of Applications
2.1 Identify the steps to containerize an application
2.2 Identify steps to deploy multiple microservice applications
2.3 Evaluate microservices and container architecture diagrams based on technical and business requirements (security, performance, stability, and cost)
2.4 Identify safe handling practices for configuration items, application parameters, and secrets
2.5 Construct a Docker file to address application specifications
2.6 Describe the usage of golden images to deploy applications
20% 3.0 Automating Infrastructure
3.1 Describe how to integrate DevOps practices into an existing organization structure
3.2 Describe the use of configuration management tools to automate infrastructure services such as Ansible, Puppet, Terraform, and Chef
3.3 Construct an Ansible playbook to automate an application deployment of infrastructure services
3.4 Construct a Terraform configuration to automate an application deployment of infrastructure services
3.5 Describe the practice and benefits of Infrastructure as Code
3.6 Design a pre-check validation of the network state in a CI/CD pipeline for a given scenario
3.7 Design a pre-check validation of the application infrastructure in a CI/CD pipeline for a given scenario
3.8 Describe the concepts of extending DevOps practices to the network for NetDevOps
3.9 Identify the requirements such as memory, disk I/O, network, and CPU needed to scale the application or service
15% 4.0 Cloud and Multicloud
4.1 Describe the concepts and objects of Kubernetes
4.2 Deploy applications to a Kubernetes cluster
4.3 Utilize objects of Kubernetes to build a deployment to meet requirements
4.4 Interpret the pipeline for continuous delivery of a Drone configuration file
4.5 Validate the success of an application deployment on Kubernetes
4.6 Describe method and considerations to deploy an application to multiple environments such as multiple cloud providers, high availability configurations, disaster recovery configurations, and testing cloud portability
4.7 Describe the process of tracking and projecting costs when consuming public cloud
4.8 Describe benefits of infrastructure as code for repeatable public cloud consumption
4.9 Compare cloud services strategies (build versus buy)
20% 5.0 Logging, Monitoring, and Metrics
5.1 Identify the elements of log and metric systems to facilitate application troubleshooting such as performance issues and streaming telemetry logs
5.2 Implement a log collection and reporting system for applications
5.2.a aggregate logs from multiple related applications
5.2.b search capabilities
5.2.c reporting capabilities
5.3 Troubleshoot a distributed application using AppDyanmics with Application Performance Monitoring
5.4 Describe the principles of chaos engineering
5.5 Construct Python scripts that use APIs to accomplish these tasks
5.5.a build a monitoring dashboard
5.5.b notify Webex Teams space
5.5.c responding to alerts and outages
5.5.d creating notifications
5.5.e health check monitoring
5.5.f opening and closing incidents
5.6 Identify additional application requirements to provide visibility into application health and performance
5.7 Describe Kubernetes capabilities related to logging, monitoring, and metrics
5.8 Describe the integration of logging, monitoring and alerting in a CI/CD pipeline design
10% 6.0 Security
6.1 Identify methods to secure an application and infrastructure during production and testing in a CI/CD pipeline
6.2 Identify methods to implement a secure software development life cycle Implementing DevOps Solutions and Practices using Cisco Platforms (DEVOPS) Cisco Implementing information hunger Killexams : Cisco Implementing information hunger - BingNews
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https://killexams.com/exam_list/CiscoKillexams : Cisco: Near-Term Downside Risks, Hold
Sundry Photography
We're bearish on Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) under the current macroeconomic environment. We're excited to see Cisco's earning report for its first quarter of FY2023 (expected on 16 November), but believe weaker demand under current financial stresses will gate-keep Cisco's financial performance.
Cisco is an IP-based networking company that provides an array of differentiated services for providers, enterprises, businesses, and commercial users. More recently, the company's expanding its presence in the network security domain, and we expect this focus on security and data centers to serve as growth catalysts in the long run. In the near term, however, we believe the company will face weak demand as businesses and enterprises figure out how they will spend their 2023 budget. We expect enterprise customers that make up most of Cisco's revenue will be more hesitant to spend their budget on network security under current macroeconomic volatility. We also believe Cisco itself will be directly pressured by the macroeconomic headwinds resulting from foreign exchange headwinds. We recommend investors wait for a better entry point on Cisco stock.
Enterprise spending decisions to gate-keep growth
Cisco is among the largest players in the networking space, but we believe the company is not immune to macroeconomic headwinds impacting customer demand. The current macroeconomic environment is harsh, to say the least, with inflation at the highest it's been in 40 years. Enterprises and businesses are facing increased financial stress, and we expect this to be reflected in their spending habits regarding network security and data centers. Enterprise customers reported a 15% Y/Y growth in fiscal Q4 2022, making it Cisco's fastest-growing customer base. We expect corporate tech buyers to cut costs under inflationary pressures and rising interest rates. While we love Cisco's business model, we believe the company is vulnerable to spending cuts from its customers under current financial stresses.
Cisco also derives a significant amount of its revenue from federal, state, and local government markets. We believe this makes the company exposed to stringent budget behavior by the U.S government. We expect Cisco to grow meaningfully once macroeconomic headwinds ease, but believe the stock price remains volatile in the near term.
The following table outlines Cisco's customer market in its fiscal Q4 2022.
Cisco's 4Q22 earnings report
Foreign exchange headwinds are also taking a toll
A significant amount of Cisco's revenue is derived from outside the U.S, around 42% in FY2021, subjecting the company to foreign exchange headwinds due to the strong U.S. dollar. We expect the company's financial performance to be exposed to exchange rates of other currencies - euro, pound, renminbi, and yen - compared to the strong U.S. dollar. We maintain our belief that Cisco will grow in the long run but expect the stock to be pressured by FX headwinds toward 2023.
Long-term growth catalysts in the network security domain
Cisco provides various products and services to service providers, enterprises, and businesses, but security and data centers take the cake for Cisco's fastest-expanding markets. We're constructive on Cisco's rapid expansion in the network security domain. The network security domain is expected to grow significantly with a CAGR of 16.7% between 2022-2030.
The following image outlines the forecasted growth in the global network security market.
Straits
Since 2019, Cisco has been focusing its revenue growth on its secure, agile networks segment, and we expect the company to benefit from tailwinds for network security domains worldwide. The company's network security includes products and services preventing unauthorized access to systems. The company's data center products encapsulate Cisco Unified Computing Systems and Server Access Virtualization.
The following graph outlines Cisco's revenue by segment over the past few years.
Statista
Not immune to competition
Cisco's facing stiff competition from Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET), Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE), Huawei, and the Ethernet switch router market. We expect competition will force Cisco's hand to offer discounts and deals to maintain its customer base. Competitors are revamping their product lines in the switch router market, and we believe Cisco needs to bring its A-game to keep up with the competition and maintain profitability.
Stock performance
Cisco grew around 27% over the past five years. YTD, the stock is down about 30% alongside the larger tech peer group. The stock underperforms the S&P (SPY) index on the YTD metric, with SPY declining 17% over the same period. Cisco's competition is also feeling the pressure of macroeconomic headwinds; Juniper is down around 15%, Arista Networks around 11%, Dell (DELL) around 25%, VMware (VMW) about 1%, Aruba (HPE) around 5%, NetGear (NTGR) around 34%, and Extreme Networks (EXTR) up almost 19%. YTD, Cisco underperforms the bulk of its competition. We expect the stock to drop further towards 2023 and recommend investors wait for a better entry point.
The following graphs outline Cisco's YTD performance compared to the index and competition.
TechStockPros
TechStockPros
Valuation
Cisco is relatively cheap, but we believe there is more downside to be factored into the stock. On a P/E basis, Cisco is trading at 11.6x C2024 EPS of $3.87 compared to the peer group average of 18.2x. The stock is trading at 3.0x C2024 on an EV/Sales metric versus the peer group average trading at 3.8x. We're bullish on Cisco in the long run but recommend investors wait to see how enterprise spending pans out toward the end of the year.
The following graph outlines Cisco's valuation relative to the peer group.
TechStockPros
Word on Wall Street
Wall Street is divided on the stock. Of the 38 analysts covering the stock, 12 are buy-rated, 16 are hold-rated, and the remaining are sell-rated. We attribute the lack of a unified rating on Cisco to concerns over how near-term macroeconomic headwinds will impact the stock. Cisco is currently trading at $45. The median and mean price targets are set at $53 and $55, respectively, with a potential upside of 17-22%.
The following tables outline sell-side ratings and price targets for Cisco.
TechStockPros
What to do with the stock
We like Cisco's position in the networking space, specifically with its growing focus on security and data center markets. We expect the security and data center markets to enjoy significant growth as the enterprise world becomes more digitized. Yet, we believe the near-term financial stresses will chokehold meaningful growth in the industry towards 2023. We expect more downside to be factored into Cisco stock in the near term and recommend investors wait for a better entry point.
Fri, 11 Nov 2022 07:09:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://seekingalpha.com/article/4556589-cisco-near-term-downside-risks-holdKillexams : Is Cisco Systems Stock a Buy Now?
Cisco's (CSCO-0.49%) stock price jumped 5% on Thursday, Nov. 17, after the networking hardware and software giant posted its latest earnings report. For the first quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended on Oct. 29, Cisco's revenue rose 6% year over year to $13.63 billion and beat analysts' estimates by $340 million. Its adjusted earnings rose 5% to $0.86 per share, which also cleared the consensus forecast by two cents.
Does that steady growth indicate Cisco's stock is worth buying again after being buffeted by macroeconomic headwinds over the past year? Let's review its previous challenges and its exact progress to decide.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why were investors worried about Cisco?
Last September, Cisco set some promising long-term goals during its investor day presentation. It predicted its revenue and adjusted EPS would both increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% to 7% between fiscal 2021 and 2025, driven by the expansion of its subscription-based software and cybersecurity businesses.
But over the past year, Cisco's secure and agile networks division (which houses its switches, enterprise routers, and other wireless and access point hardware) struggled with supply chain disruptions, component shortages, and rising freight costs. The growth of that segment -- which generated 46% of its revenue last year -- decelerated throughout all of fiscal 2022 and declined 1% year over year in the fourth quarter. Its collaboration business, which brought in 9% of its revenue last year, also continued to wither as it struggled to keep pace withZoom Video Communications and Microsoft Teams.
Those headwinds offset the stable growth of its end-to-end security and optimized applications businesses (16% of its fiscal 2022 revenue) as well the inorganic growth of the internet of the future division (10% of its revenue), which had been driven by its acquisition of Acacia Communications last March. As a result, Cisco's revenue growth flatlined in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2022 -- which cast a dark cloud over its ambitious investor day targets.
Why did Cisco's latest report clear away those clouds?
Cisco's first quarter report allayed those fears for three reasons. First, its secure and agile networks revenue rose 12% year over year -- on top of its 10% growth a year ago -- driven by strong sales of its networking hardware and a gradual easing of the supply chain headwinds. Its end-to-end security and optimized applications segments also continued to grow.
Those improvements boosted Cisco's revenue by 6% year over year during the first quarter. It expects that momentum to continue with 4.5%-6.5% growth in both the second quarter and the full year. CFO Scott Herren also reaffirmed the company's investor day goals of achieving 5%-7% revenue and earnings growth over the "long term" during the conference call.
Second, Cisco's margins are stabilizing. Its adjusted gross margin still shrank 150 basis points year over year to 63% in the first quarter -- mainly due to the impact of supply chain headwinds on its product gross margins -- but only declined 30 basis points sequentially. That compares favorably to its sequential drop of 200 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2022. Looking ahead, Cisco expects its adjusted gross margin to finally rise sequentially to 63%-64% in the second quarter. That's a bright green flag that suggests its supply chain headwinds are finally dissipating.
Lastly, that gross margin expansion prompted Cisco to provide upbeat earnings guidance for the rest of fiscal 2023. It expects its adjusted EPS to increase 0%-2% in the second quarter, and to rise 4%-7% for the full year. That's slightly higher than its prior full-year guidance for 4%-6% growth.
Cisco's stock is finally worth buying again
Cisco's stock lost more than a quarter of its value this year as investors fretted over its supply chain challenges and shrinking gross margins. However, its first-quarter report suggests those problems are transitory -- and that it's still well-poised to generate stable growth for the foreseeable future.
At $46 per share, Cisco trades at just 13 times this year's earnings. It also pays an attractive forward dividend yield of 3.3%, which accounts for less than half of its projected EPS for fiscal 2023. By comparison, Cisco's smaller rival Juniper Networks also trades at 13 times forward earnings but pays a lower forward dividend yield of 2.8%.
Cisco certainly isn't a stock for growth-oriented investors. However, investors who are looking for a stable blue-chip tech stalwart that is cheap and generates consistent dividends should consider picking up some shares today.
Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Sat, 19 Nov 2022 22:24:00 -0600Leo Sunentext/htmlhttps://www.fool.com/investing/2022/11/20/is-cisco-systems-stock-a-buy-now/Killexams : Cisco updates SD-WAN to simplify provisioning, management
Cisco is set to unveil a new edition of its SD-WAN software that will extend the system’s reach and include new management capabilities.
Among the most significant enhancements to Cisco SD-WAN release 17.10, expected in December, is the ability to use Cisco SD-WAN Multi Region Fabric (MRF) support with existing Software Defined Cloud Interconnect (SDCI) systems to significantly expand the reach and control of the SD-WAN environment.
MRF lets customers divide their SD-WAN environments into multiple regional networks that operate distinctly from one another, along with a central core-region network for managing inter-regional traffic, according to Cisco.
SDCI technology is used to link enterprise resources to a variety of cloud, network, and internet service providers. Cisco customers could use SDCI with their SD-WAN deployments in the past but not MRF.
By combining the two technologies and using the Cloud OnRamp Multicloud Interconnect Gateway in Cisco SD-WAN software, customers can now set network, configuration and security policies across a wide variety of locations from a central site. Cisco’s SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp links branch offices or individual remote users to cloud applications such as Cisco’s Webex, Microsoft 365, AWS, Google, Oracle, Salesforce and more.
Customers can now assign regions and roles to SD-WAN edges deployed within SDCI infrastructure, and they can segment MRF regions into multiple sub-regions and share border routers between these sub-regions, allowing for better redundancy and failover-centric network designs, according to John Joyal, senior manager, product and solutions marketing with Cisco's enterprise SD-WAN and routing group. (Joyal wrote a blog about Cisco's SD-WAN MRF enhancements.)
In addition to the MRF integration, Cloud OnRamp now includes improved telemetry to offer customers better insight into and management of attached Webex application and network resources.
Another new Cloud OnRamp feature automatically programs Kubernetes application connectivity requirements, letting customers more quickly bring up those resources in an SD-WAN environment, Cisco stated.
On the security side, Cisco has expanded its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) options by adding integration with security platforms from Cloudflare and Netskope. This follows a similar integration between Cisco SD-WAN and ZScaler security offerings.
Cisco also said it would integrate its SD-WAN alerts with Splunk’s security information and event management (SIEM) system.
Cisco said its SD-WAN package will let Azure customers build automated site-to-site connectivity over Microsoft’s global network using the Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub and Azure Virtual WAN with its multi-region fabric.
The idea is to let customers build single or multiple overlays on top of Microsoft’s backbone to interconnect enterprise sites worldwide, and to connect sites to workloads running inside Azure, similar to an arrangement Cisco has with Google Cloud.
Microsoft’s fabric can identify a site based on its geographic location and attach sites to regions based on geographic boundaries. With Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub, enterprises that have deployed Cisco SD-WAN fabric for their WAN infrastructure can now securely extend their fabric to the public cloud in a simple and automated way and consider utilizing this for their global site-to-site connectivity, the companies stated.
Mon, 05 Dec 2022 12:57:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.networkworld.com/article/3681657/cisco-updates-sd-wan-to-simplify-provisioning-management.htmlKillexams : Do This to Avoid 'Protein Hunger'
Photo: Timolina (Shutterstock)
Protein is great. Our bodies are largely made of protein, and if you lift weights, I bet you already know that eating enough protein is important for building muscle. But what if you just want to be healthy in general? What if you don’t even care that much about being healthy, but want to avoid overeating? Protein is important for you too.
A new study has put the spotlight on a lack of protein as a potential driver of overeating. Its findings give more support to an existing concept called the “protein leverage hypothesis.” This is the idea that we will eat until we get enough protein, and so if our diet is made of low-protein foods, we may end up eating a lot of food, and thus a lot of calories, just to get our fill of protein. Sometimes people call this “protein hunger.”
Why protein is important
Our bodies don’t just need protein to build new muscle tissue. We also need protein to heal and repair damage. Our bodies continually break tissues down and rebuild them, and we need protein for that task as well. Protein is also the building material for enzymes, which do everything from digesting food to detoxifying chemicals in our livers to helping our blood clot. Many hormones are made of protein; the receptors that receive hormonal messages are made of protein as well.
So we need a steady influx of protein just to keep our body functioning. And if we exercise—which is important for a healthy body—we need protein to support that as well. Without enough protein, we can actually lose muscle mass over time. Loss of muscle is one of the perils of aging, but we can reverse it with strength training and, yes, sufficient protein.
And if the protein leverage hypothesis is correct, we also need protein to keep us from overeating.
Put all that together, and it’s worth making sure to get enough protein in your diet. At an absolute minimum, we need 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (so, 72 grams for a 200-pound person). We’ve run the numbers for various body sizes and activity levels here.
“Healthy” foods are often low in protein
If you’ve heard the average American eats “too much” protein, stay with me a minute. It’s true that, on average, we eat more than the minimum requirement of 0.36 grams per pound. But the minimum requirement is low; it’s meant to be the amount that will keep you from being protein-deficient. Athletes will eat more, up to a full 1 gram per pound of body weight. Most of us should be somewhere between those numbers, especially if we’re active. And protein isn’t something where “too much” is harmful, so it’s good to err on the side of getting more than the recommendation rather than less.
So what happens when we decide we want to eat healthy? Chances are, if you’re on a diet, some of the things you’ll cut out are good sources of protein: burgers, cheese, fatty red meat, processed meats like hot dogs and deli meat.
Maybe you’ll swap the burgers for chicken breast, which should be fine from a protein standpoint—but then you’re also eating smaller portions. A Big Mac has 26 grams of protein in those two little patties; this chicken-based American Heart Association certified Lean Cuisine meal only has 14 grams. If you’re going for plant-based meals instead, those tend to be even lower in protein. A salad with dressing usually has no protein unless you’re adding something like chicken, cheese, or nuts—and there usually isn’t much protein in a sprinkling of cheese or nuts.
The amount of protein you need when you’re eating in a calorie deficit is actually the same, or arguably more, than when you’re not trying to lose weight. It’s fine if you don’t want to eat a Big Mac, but a proper low-calorie replacement for that meal would be something that still gives you 26 grams of protein, but with fewer calories from fats and carbs.
Which foods are high in protein?
To help you navigate this issue, let’s talk about which foods are high in protein, and which look like they should be, but aren’t.
Foods that are high in protein without being high in calories include:
Chicken breasts and thighs
Ground beef, especially leaner mixes like 90/10
Greek yogurt or Skyr
Whey powder and other protein powders
Fish (depending on how fatty it is)
Tofu and tempeh
Beans and lentils, although they come with a sizable helping of carbs—depending on the type of bean and the way it’s prepared, these could easily be on either of our two lists.
Foods that may not be as high in protein as you think they are:
Eggs have 6 grams of protein each; it adds up, sure, but an egg is not a protein bomb.
Foods that have the word “protein” on their label are usually still pretty low in protein. A protein muffin may have more protein than a regular muffin, but neither is actually that high in protein.
Peanut butter has more protein than, say, real butter. But the thin smear you spread on toast will only add a few grams to your daily total.
These are all still good foods to eat, but don’t mistake a two-egg omelet for a meal that gets you ahead of your protein requirement for the day. The 12 grams of protein in that omelet are far less than the 27 grams in a smallish chicken breast.
Especially if you’re trying to eat healthy, it’s worth looking up the nutrition information for a typical day’s meals and seeing how your protein intake adds up. And if you need ideas, we have a collection of cheap, easy, high-protein meals here.
Thu, 10 Nov 2022 05:03:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://lifehacker.com/do-this-to-avoid-protein-hunger-1849768279Killexams : Cisco showcases innovations to secure organizations wherever work happens
Cisco announced new capabilities across its security portfolio so teams can be more productive and protected wherever they are working from.
Unveiled at Cisco's exact annual Partner Summit conference, the news demonstrates continued progress towards the strategic vision of the Cisco Security Cloud that will protect the integrity of an organization's entire IT ecosystem.
The end-to-end platform will safeguard users, devices and applications across public clouds and private data centers, without public cloud lock-in.
"Security is no longer optional. It is critical to every major initiative an organization may have," said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration at Cisco. "We are committed to delivering more value for our partners by continuing to drive innovation and making it easier to do business with Cisco. Partners can land key products and then expand across the Cisco Secure portfolio to increase profitability while enabling customers to securely achieve their digital transformation goals."
Zero Trust
Duo Passwordless Authentication is now available for all customers to protect Single Sign On (SSO) applications. Users can login without any password by leveraging biometrics (Windows Hello and Mac touch ID) and security keys. Cisco is also adding the Duo Mobile app as a new option for passwordless authentication. This will simplify implementation and lower the total cost of ownership for customers, as well as better meet the needs of all end-users as global biometric adoption stalled after several years of sharp growth. Among Duo customers, biometrics were enabled on 81 percent of mobile devices.
The findings are from Cisco's 2022 Duo Trusted Access Report, also released today. The annual study is based on roughly 1.1 billion monthly global authentications, an increase of 38 percent year-over-year, across more than 49 million devices and 490 thousand unique applications.
"Passwordless authentication reduces the risk of phishing attacks and their ability to utilize stolen passwords or as we've seen more recently, MFA fatigue," said Dave Lewis, Global Advisory CISO at Cisco. "As cyberattacks continue to move closer to end-users, there is a huge opportunity to embrace low-friction authentication methods that ensure only trusted users and devices gain access to applications and corporate resources."
Network Security
Employees are going back in the office. Among Duo customers, remote access authentications declined since peaking in 2020, reaching lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2022. As hybrid work becomes the new normal, organizations are demanding high-performance network security without the increased cost.
To better meet the needs of customers, Cisco is introducing the existing addition to the Secure Firewall 3100 Series, the first firewalls purpose-built for hybrid work. Secure Firewall 3105 expands sizing options for branch offices at a price point accessible to more organizations. It empowers hybrid workers with support for more remote users and increases VPN speed and performance by 17X.
Initially launching in the US, Cisco Capital is now offering Cisco Lifecycle Pay for Secure Firewall, a Cisco Capital fixed term subscription payment solution, to provide a financial incentive and lower total cost of usage without the burden of ownership.
Customers can receive a 10 percent replacement incentive when returning existing firewall hardware and upgrading to Cisco's latest qualifying firewall technology. Cisco Capital offers a global suite of segment-and architecture-agnostic payment solutions that enable partners to better support their customers and match their buying preferences.
Secure Connectivity
As critical resources are moved into cloud, customers are concerned about data vulnerability. The challenge is only growing, as authentications to cloud applications increased 24 percent in 2022. Data needs to be protected, not just because of the risk tied to malicious threat actors, but the unintentional issues caused by inexperienced users.
To help with this, Cisco is enhancing Umbrella with stronger data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities, including unified policies and reporting across API-based out-of-band DLP, and real-time inline DLP, making management easier for security teams.
Umbrella is a foundational component of Cisco+ Secure Connect, Cisco's unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution. Highlighting their abilities with the integrated networking and security architecture, partners can now achieve SASE specialization to help customers securely enable cloud development and deployment, remote work, and edge computing.
Thu, 10 Nov 2022 02:39:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.securityinfowatch.com/cybersecurity/press-release/21286715/cisco-showcases-innovations-to-secure-organizations-wherever-work-happensKillexams : Cisco Just Demonstrated the Power of Stock Buybacks
Networking-equipment giant Cisco Systems(CSCO-0.49%) reported results this Wednesday, covering the first quarter of fiscal-year 2023. The company generated adjusted earnings of $0.86 per diluted share, surpassing Wall Street's consensus earnings estimate of $0.84 per share.
Investors and analysts applauded Cisco's strong results, and the stock price closed 5% higher on Thursday. However, I don't see a ton of headlines mentioning one of Cisco's most shareholder-friendly qualities: The company is shoveling billions of dollars straight into the pockets of shareholders. I'm particularly impressed by Cisco's effective use of stock buybacks.
Cisco's buybacks make a difference
Fun fact: If not for the anti-dilutive effects of the buyback program, Cisco would barely have satisfied the consensus-earnings target.
Cisco's adjusted net income increased by 2% year over year, landing at $3.5 billion. At the same time, the stock-repurchasing program reduced the share count by 12 million stubs in the first quarter. The canceled stock adds up to 127 million shares on a trailing basis, which works out to a 3% reduction.
In a world where Cisco doesn't worry about share-count reductions, this-quarter's earnings would have landed at $0.84 per share, but only by the skin of its proverbial teeth. With three significant digits, you'd be looking at earnings of $0.856 per share, a rounding error away from missing the analyst target.
OK, that's no surprise
The lower share count shouldn't surprise anyone, especially since the bulk of this-year's buybacks fell in the second quarter of 2022. That period was covered in last-February's earnings update, giving everybody nine months to update their earnings estimates accordingly. The exercise above is just a bit of calculator-based entertainment, illustrating how generous Cisco's buyback program really is.
Cisco has invested an average of $1.1 billion per quarter in stock buybacks over the last three years. Dividend payments averaged $1.6 billion per quarter over the same period. That adds up to $1.69 billion of cash per quarter, sent right back to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends. Free cash flows in this time span averaged $3.53 billion per quarter, so the shareholder-bound cash returns consumed 48% of Cisco's average cash profits.
Cisco loves to share its cash profits with you, the shareholder
This generous cash return is no accident. Cisco has a history of generating massive cash flow and sharing them freely with stock owners.
On the earnings call, Cisco CFO Scott Herren said that the dividend-payout and buyback activity were "in line with our long-term objective of returning a minimum of 50% of free cash flow annually to our shareholders." That's been an official Cisco policy since the fourth quarter of 2019, three years ago.
I love seeing this shareholder-friendly policy in a veritable cash machine such as Cisco Systems. Even in an off-year like 2022, the company amassed $12.8 billion of trailing free cash flows -- and sent half of it right back to shareholders.
Today, Cisco's stock comes with a shrinking share count and a beefy dividend yield of 3.3%. You should expect the dividend payments to continue rising modestly over the years, while buybacks are adjusted to meet that 50% cash-sharing ambition, year by year. These qualities make Cisco a great buy for income investors, who value a free-flowing stream of cash profits and a tight commitment to cash-based profit sharing.
Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:55:00 -0600Anders Bylundentext/htmlhttps://www.fool.com/investing/2022/11/18/cisco-demonstrated-the-power-of-stock-buybacks/Killexams : NVIDIA and Cisco turbocharge VDI solutions like never before
This content was produced in partnership with Cisco.
With so many working from home these days, it’s important to have an infrastructure in place that allows for the seamless transition between remote and office locations. One way to solve this is to pull all of the data and applications that are resident on a person’s laptop and have the data instead be resident on a system architecture within the customer’s data center. That enables the centralized management of applications, data, and system backups. Patches and updates to the apps can then be prioritized. So, VDI provides the ability for a laptop or home computer to be able to access the required data and applications within a consistent user interface. An additional benefit is that if the company laptop is stolen, a new one can be sent to the employee and they can access their virtual desktop and be productive immediately. A smart way to approach the datacenter infrastructure for VDI is to leverage cloud computing — more specifically Cisco’s future-ready UCS X-Series Modular Systems, for converged and hyper-converged infrastructure.
Cisco’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions for X-Series provides a remarkably flexible, scalable, and capable provisioning and management tool for an organization or business that needs it. But here’s the most important point: It’s not just for work-from-home situations. The technology offers a widespread and scalable rollout for just about any form of implementation for any industry. IT organizations benefit from all of the technology X-Series has to offer, including high server performance, 100G networking, Nvidia GPU support on both the server compute node and via a dedicated node, comprehensive management tools, within fully scalable chassis. And since it’s future-ready and modular, upgrades and streamlined performance are always accessible — you don’t have to worry about upgrading all of your hardware to keep up with performance and software improvements.
There is a wide range of job roles across a number of vertical markets that VDI can address. One type of user is called the “Power User,” and it’s a job role where they work with applications that generate very complex renderings. The work requires greater amounts of memory and Intel CPU processing cycles to complete, which impacts the overall system performance — thus they are a high-power user. One way to ease power burdens is to add NVIDIA GPUs to the configuration. A Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) can perform the application renderings, removing the burden from the CPU inside the server. Of course, this offers many benefits to performance and the user experience.
Cisco’s technology delivers a future-ready infrastructure prepared for just about anything, with a remarkably simple operating model — organizations benefit from simple configuration, easy deployment and implementation, managed from Cisco Intersight.The result is an ideal platform on which leading VDI “broker” solutions from Citrix and VMWare can be deployed. With Cisco’s solutions, customers can roll out highly-advanced systems and architecture easier than ever.
Some of the advantages include:
Service performance and availability
Operational profitability
Workforce productivity
Reduced CapEx and OpEx through centralized upgrades
Cloud managed and updated security
“Future-Ready” hardware with Cisco UCS X-Series
It’s a great platform for any company that wants centrally managed infrastructure, with less hassle and improved uptimes. But also it’s highly scalable, ideal for IT services, with higher profitability and performance than most local solutions. Organizations can swap over pretty easily, netting significant cost savings via server consolidation, power savings, and potentially application license savings, but without sacrificing the power and performance they’ve come to expect.
How do the employees benefit? They can work from any location, on any endpoint, and at any time without losing access to the tools they need most — and better yet, without anyone having to manage several forms of hardware, various versions of applications, patch management, and all of the IT overhead associated with it.
The key to ‘future-proof’ is flexibility and scalability
Referring to a future-proof solution, the primary focus is the hardware behind the scenes, and in Cisco’s systems, that’s governed by the X-Series architecture. Yes, as time goes on and more powerful hardware is needed, newer compute nodes can easily be added to the X-Series chassis, all managed by Cisco’s cloud-based systems management tool, Cisco Intersight. The Cisco VDI technology, utilizing either Citrix or VMware Horizon, allows for more workloads with higher demands, albeit now using more-efficient hardware. As opposed to traditional rack-mounted servers, with UCS all that power is still delivered through a smaller and more manageable form factor. It’s more convenient overall and uses a single multifunctional management tool for administrators and IT.
Cisco claims the UCS X-Series “rethinks what a server can and should be.” It’s adaptable, expandable, and remarkably efficient — by deploying these systems, businesses save time on IT and digital operations. IT teams have had to completely reimagine their operating models to match the new remote and hybrid workforces. Even with teams returning to the office, the same concerns are going to persist, particularly when it comes to security and dynamic endpoint management. Yet with VDI solutions, it doesn’t matter whether you’re managing 500 users to 5,000, or where they’re connecting and working from — home, office, or a remote location — instant access and flexibility are always there.
Where does NVIDIA fit in?
At the heart of those UCS X-Series systems for accelerated VDI are NVIDIA’s powerful GPUs and software, and not just for graphics-intensive capabilities either. Breakthroughs in AI, data analytics, IT and managed services, accelerated computing, and beyond are all being supported and driven by NVIDIA and Cisco’s technologies. The NVIDIA A16 and A40 are ideal fits to support the vast majority of power user requirements while the NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU, for example, complements AI infrastructure and makes a huge performance difference for Cisco customers.
Server-side, the hardware works together to provide unprecedented performance and experiences to users, who are connecting from all over the world. GPU-accelerated virtual desktop solutions elevate the user experience in many ways. Yes, the performance is enhanced, but the related systems are capable of much more than your average desktop solution. Graphic and visual design, game development, software development, AI processing, 3D rendering of any kind — all of these activities benefit from NVIDIA GPUs. Distributed workers get the power they need for any task, and they don’t have to upgrade a single thing — it’s accessible from any endpoint whether that’s a work laptop, desktop at the office, or another remote platform entirely.
Turbocharge your data solutions
It’s not any one environment that’s going to be the major driver of cloud computing adoption. Just as IT organizations and workers adapted to a sudden shift to hybrid work circumstances a couple of years ago, it’s going to happen again with many returning to offices and IT relocating workloads by moving from the cloud back to on-premise deployments in the data center. It doesn’t make sense to manage the necessary hardware on traditional platforms with old methods, especially when data centers are maintained in-house. A more cost-effective, flexible, and, frankly, a better-performing solution is to offset the technology, by implementing Cisco’s VDI platform(s). It empowers the same paradigms as a BYOD environment, albeit with much safer and better-maintained solutions behind the scenes.
Some real world uses are:
Managing centrally-accessed virtual desktops that are delivered to end users on their choice of endpoints — they choose where and how to connect.
High-performance, storage-intensive virtual desktops that require optimal performance, like in graphic design and development.
Efficiently provisioned and seamless application use, across workstations, with the proper software updates and security patches, remotely deployed.
Super-flexible computer, storage, and networking scaling with dynamic workload requirements — more power can be accessed near-instantly if needed.
Access to next-generation hardware without any major in-house upgrades, but also fully accessible from any device, at any location.
Unlocking instant access to a centrally and fully managed data solution without adapting, installing, or upgrading any on-site hardware.
In a world where infinitely more power and performance are required, and where there’s a continued demand by the average workforce, it makes sense to roll out a centrally managed solution like Cisco’s VDI technology. Why handle everything on your own when you get the full support of industry experts, with the hardware and resources to back it all up?
NVIDIA and Cisco are collaborating to deliver precisely this, in virtual desktop and cloud technologies that truly transform the end user experience. If you have any lingering questions, and as with most things, the best way to understand is to experience it for yourself, or rather experience it with the rest of your team(s).
Fri, 04 Nov 2022 05:00:00 -0500Briley Kenneyentext/htmlhttps://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/cisco-vdi-solutions/Killexams : Cisco shares pop on earnings beat and increased 2023 forecast
A sign bearing the logo for communications and security tech giant Cisco Systems Inc is seen outside one of its offices in San Jose, California, August 11, 2022.
Earnings per share: 86 cents vs. 84 cents expected, according to Refinitiv
Revenue: $13.6 billion vs. $13.3 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv
Revenue increased 6% year over year, while net income slid 10% to $2.7 billion. The company now expects sales growth in fiscal 2023 of 4.5% to 6.5%, up from a prior forecast that called for growth of 4% to 6%.
CFO Scott Herren said in a company release that Cisco delivered "strong results" and attributed the company's guidance forecast in part to an "easing supply situation."
While Cisco's numbers topped estimates, the company is still struggling to grow as the technology world rapidly shifts to cloud and subscription software and away from buying physical boxes. Cisco's stock price is down 27% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 29%.
Cisco's top business segment, which includes data-center networking switches, delivered $6.68 billion in revenue, up 12% from a year earlier.
Internet for the Future, its second-largest unit, saw revenue drop 5% to $1.3 billion. The division contains routed optical networking hardware the company picked up through its 2021 Acacia Communications acquisition.
Sales in the Collaboration segment, which features Webex, contributed $1.1 billion in revenue, down 2% year over year.
Cisco will hold its quarterly call with investors at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Wed, 16 Nov 2022 07:33:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/16/cisco-csco-earnings-q1-2023.htmlKillexams : What to expect when economic bellwether Cisco reports quarterly resultsClub holding Cisco Systems (CSCO) is set to report fiscal first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, and we'll be looking to see how the technology conglomerate has weathered gathering economic headwinds. Cisco, whose product offerings include networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment, has long been considered an economic bellwether that sources a consistent revenue stream from a diverse set of industries including retail, health care, financial services and government. Analysts expect earnings-per-share to come in at 84 cents, up 2.4% from last year, while total revenue should climb 3.2% year-over-year, to $13.31 billion, according to estimates from Refinitiv. Here are the top 4 factors we're looking out for ahead of the print. Supply chain Analysts and investors will be closely monitoring Cisco's supply chain execution. This has been a chronic headwind for the company that has been exacerbated by China's ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, resulting in shortages of critical components. "There has been some degree of improvement in the component supply chain, however, CSCO still continues to see some of the most extended lead times for components among any other networking supplier," analysts at Loop Capital wrote in a note. Still, any further improvements could mean more upside to Cisco's first-quarter results. Enterprise spending Demand from enterprise customers has been holding up this year, despite the challenging global economic backdrop. And those "solid demand trends" look set to continue, according to Loop Capital. "Our exact checks and industry conversations highlight a strong demand outlook for CSCO's networking solutions within the Enterprise sector," the analysts wrote in a research note Tuesday. At the same time, as the economy slows, companies have become more cautious on how they allocate corporate funds. At the Club, we'll be looking to hear from management on whether Cisco's customers have reined in their budgets. Product orders Resilient demand for Cisco's products is reflected in its orders and backlog. And the company ended its 2022 fiscal year with a record backlog, providing it with greater visibility on future revenue potential. In addition, Cisco's remaining performance obligations (RPO), which represent its future contracted revenue recognized over the next 12 months, was more than $31 billion, with 54% revenue for the coming year. While total product orders fell 6% in the fourth quarter , this was up against tough comparables on last year's unexpected 31% growth in orders. Nevertheless, we'll be looking for signs of accelerating product order growth. "Cisco needs to address share losses across its most important segments and address its ability to innovate and attract talent for its growth segments," analysts at Bank of America wrote in a note Tuesday. Transition from hardware to software Cisco's transformation to software subscription should be a long-term growth catalyst for the company. So, we'd like to see Cisco's progress on transitioning from lumpy hardware sales to recurring software subscription sales, a move that could bolster revenue. This shift will be a major focus for the quarter, as the tech industry continues to move toward a cloud and subscription software model and away from boxed software. Analysts at JPMorgan "remain positive Cisco's transformation toward software subscription and services-based revenue, which in aggregate should drive a re-rating in shares, which have historically and recently traded at a discount to software and peer companies as well as the market." Bottom line Cisco's products and services support the trends driving digitization, including hybrid cloud, 5G and the internet of things, which enterprise networks need to operate efficiently in today's work environment. As these trends accelerate, demand for Cisco's services will continue to be strong. At the same time, a weaker global economy could hold back enterprise spending and dent Cisco's revenue. We also recognize that Cisco's primary pain point remains the supply chain. But this is out of the company's control, and should be seen as a temporary headwind. More importantly, we know Cisco has resilient demand because its order backlog is massive. Cisco has a company profile that checks the Club's investment case of 'making stuff and doing things,' while delivering profits and returning cash to shareholders, which is increasingly relevant in today's market as investors rotate out of Big Tech. Cisco's stock has been punished this year, along with the rest of the tech sector, and is down 28.8% year-to-date. The stock closed out Tuesday up 0.36%, at $44.90 a share. We currently have a 2 rating on the stock, which we'll reassess following Wednesday's results. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long CSCO. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. 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A man passes under a Cisco logo at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 25, 2019.
Sergio Perez | Reuters
Club holding Cisco Systems (CSCO) is set to report fiscal first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, and we'll be looking to see how the technology conglomerate has weathered gathering economic headwinds.
Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:14:00 -0600entext/htmlhttps://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/15/what-to-expect-when-economic-bellwether-cisco-reports-results.htmlKillexams : Why Cisco Stock Popped TodayNo result found, try new keyword!Shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) were rising this morning after the tech company reported better-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2023 results yesterday. Cisco beat Wall Street's top- and ...Thu, 17 Nov 2022 03:15:00 -0600text/htmlhttps://www.nasdaq.com/articles/why-cisco-stock-popped-today300-910 exam dump and training guide direct download Training Exams List