Cisco Streamlines Cloud Management Software Purchasing update from January 2015

Cisco launched a new enterprise cloud suite, branded ONE, that helps automate, provision, and run applications in private and hybrid cloud environments. The vendor's ONE strategy is a new approach to software licensing and bundling.

The changes are all meant to streamline buying and receiving Cisco's cloud management software for customers.

“Unlike Cisco's previous focus on selling cloud management software as part of complex and expensive services engagements, the Enterprise Cloud Suite is designed to appeal to a broad range of customers that want pre-packaged and easy to deploy hybrid and private cloud management software solutions,” IDC Analyst Mary Johnston Turner said via email.

Management is simplified through modular automation, meaning different automation features can be added one by one, in bite-size chunks.

The suite provides consistent, policy-based infrastructure instances optimized for application performance across compute, network, and storage. It has out-of-the-box templates for Windows or Linux-based application stacks and provides tools for developers to design and deploy custom stacks.

With Cisco ONE software strategy, Cisco bundles hundreds of formerly separate software offerings into three suites: Data Center, WAN, and Access. The company has improved licensing portability.