Cisco is rolling out new predictive services powered by artificial intelligence that the tech giant says will help clients address skills gap in talent and knowledge needed to deal with IT challenges.

Here’s how Joe Cozzolino, Senior Vice President of Cisco Services, explains the challenge and the Cisco solutions in a blog post:

“The life of the typical CIO has become amazingly complicated. No longer are they just expected to manage costs and keep the network running, the CIOs I talk to also have to help grow the business. That’s because their networks are generating massive amounts of data and it holds the key to business insights, better decision making, and new revenue streams—assuming there are resources available to make sense of the data.

“And that could be a problem. Because at the same time as demands on IT are increasing, CIOs are challenged by a large and growing technical skills gap. Without the skills they need in their organizations, CIOs will not only miss the growth opportunities, but could put existing systems and business continuity at risk.

“Enter Cisco’s suite of predictive services, announced today as two new Cisco Services portfolios: Business Critical Services, and High-value Services.  With these new offerings, Cisco harnesses the power and intelligence of AI and machine learning to help CIOs address their most pressing challenges.”

The offerings are called Cisco Business Critical Services.

These go “beyond traditional optimization services to deliver new analytics, automation, compliance, and security capabilities. These new services will help organizations reduce complexity and risk, protect their businesses with built-in security, and make more informed decisions through infrastructure analytics. They’ll also help generate revenue. On average, Cisco’s optimization customers have generated an additional $54 million per year by cutting downtime,” Cozzolino wrote.

  • VIDEO: Watch an overview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=wfrOxkF-Dis

News site TechRepublic reported recently that 83 percent of tech leaders “struggle” with the IT skills gap.

And the news triggered a wave of headlines from tech media. here’s a sample:

  • Cisco’s new predictive services aim to fill the tech skills gap with AI – TechRepublic
  • Cisco using AI and machine learning to help IT predict failures – TechCrunch
  • Cisco Launches ‘Next-Generation’ Services Powered By AI – CRN
  • More Articles Cisco Debuts New AI-Powered, Predictive Next-Gen Services – Channel Partners
  • Cisco Unveils Industry’s First Predictive Services Powered by AI – EIN News

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins says the new solutions meet a pressing need.

“Today’s world is moving faster than ever, and to be successful, businesses must have the right blend of IT talent and services,” he said in the announcement. “By leveraging AI and machine learning to address critical IT issues, Cisco’s new services offerings will truly help our customers free up time to focus on the growing IT talent gap, and remain competitive into the future.”

Cisco operates one of its largest corporate campuses in RTP.

Read more at:

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=1886389