The pace of change in business is accelerating so fast, that many IT professionals may not have fully recognized and internalized the enormity of the changes happening in the networking space right now. We're talking about taking a huge leap forward in the way networks will be designed, deployed and managed compared to the last 20 years or more. This is not simply a change in the technologies we use, but also an evolution in the skills IT professionals must develop and a shift on how they run their operations. Evolving our networks so that they understand what the business requires -and then just deliver on those requirements.

I know it sounds like science fiction at times. But with controller-based networking, virtualization, analytics and cloud-enabled services, this future is where the industry heading. The question is less if, and more how and when. And maybe the more important question is what are you doing to get ready now?

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With$23.8 Trillion of "Digital Value at Stake" from 2015-2024 in the private sector alone -probably sooner rather than later I would guess.

Every aspiring organization, large or small, is faced with the opportunities and challenges of digital business needs a digital-ready network. These are agile, secure networks simplify IT and enable rapid innovation. Without a network that can actively enable and protect your business strategy, the applications, cloud services, and devices you deploy cannot live up to their potential.

Several organizations are taking this new challenge head-on, and partnering with Cisco to re-imagine their business and implement new ways to scale to the new network demands through automation, abstract out intelligent analytics and defend the organization with network-security model. For example:

• Santana Row, and outdoor shopping center in California, that is able to understand user behavior patterns to better serve their shoppers and guests.
• Backcountry,an online retailer, that is leveraging network automation and analytics to compete with lower operational costs and customer insights.
• KPIT,an IT professional services firm in India are re-defining the customer and employee experience with new mobile services to reserve office space and navigate the campus, as well as attracting the Millennial workforce.

"According to a Forrester survey, organizations believe it is on IT leadership to make sure this integration between business and IT occurs: "Nearly 4/5^thof business leaders believe that it is IT's responsibility to ensure the network can support the company's digital plans."

At the same time however, according to Gartner "Less than 10% of enterprises that have implemented or plan to implement digital business have very clear integration between their network and digital business *strategies".

So with that in mind -have you considered...

• how "digital-ready" your network is?
• where your network is in the journey from manual operations to full automation?
• whether you have a plan to support IoT?
• can your network provide the real-time protection you need against malware ?
• can your network provide business insights on worker and customer preferences?
• And many, many more.........

If you are intrigued by these questions, check out the network readiness index where you can measure your network's readiness.

To help you navigate the answers to these questions and more, the Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) vision, solutions and services are designed to help you with this journey.

Coming up very soon is CiscoLive, -in Las Vegas. -There, you will have an opportunity to take a deep dive into how you can adopt the DNA principles to make sure your network is digital-ready. You'll also learn about where your peers are on their network technology journey and where they are planning to be in 2 years.

And you'll not just learn about the technology -because you need to view technology as just one leg of the stool. Technology needs to be balanced with programs to support professionals in the networking industry to evolve skills to design, deploy, manage and program their next gen network. And then there's also process. Because to make the leap you will also need clearly defined processes for building and supporting a digital ready network.

So, whether you are attending in person in Las Vegas or virtually, you can't afford to miss the DNA-related Cisco Live sessions and conversations. Get your freshest DNA information from the Cisco Live source:

And if you are attending in person please make sure you come by the booth to say hello....we'd love to hear your thoughts on DNA and of course share ours on how we can help you towards a digital-ready network.

* Gartner, Jouni Forsman, Survey Analysis: Networks for IoT and Digital Business, September 2015, G00289837