Think of the internet of things and you probably envision connected devices inside a home or business environment, but a wide range of devices exist outside of what is known as the “carpeted space.” Delivering to the demands of the expanding IoT edge makes unlikely bedfellows of information and operations technology as they join forces to innovate flexible technology that is both smart and tough.

“It’s about extending the network into the non-traditional space that IT doesn’t go into today,” said Liz Centoni (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of IoT at Cisco Systems Inc. “The talent that IT has, the capability that it has, it really is a connective tissue that you’re extending your network from that carpeted space, or your clean space, into outside of the office or into the non-carpeted space.”

Centoni spoke with John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Cisco Live event in Barcelona, Spain. They discussed Cisco’s IoT strategy and the announcement of Cisco’s new catalyst industrial switches and industrial integrated services routers. (* Disclosure below.)

Solving real problems on the edge

While IoT and the edge are considered new frontiers in technology, Centoni views her department as firmly anchored to Cisco engineering. “A secure and reliable network [is] the foundation of any IoT deployment,” she said. “You can go out and buy the best sensor, buy the best application, buy the best middleware, but if you don’t have the foundation that’s secure and reliable, those IoT projects are not going to take off. It’s pretty simple; everyone’s network is the enabler of their business outcome.”

Although network technology may be the driving force behind the IoT, businesses are primarily concerned with real-life solutions that are unique to their individual use-case scenarios.

Gaining a true understanding requires the IT team to gain knowledge of the operations technology used by the customer, according to Centoni. The learning is a two-way street, with Cisco sharing networking technology expertise, while the customer teaches how the technology can be applied within their specific environment.

“IT already knows our tools, our capabilities; we’re now saying, ‘We can extend that. Let’s go out, figure out what those use cases are together,’” Centoni stated.

“I’ve been in a data center multiple times, but I haven’t been in a substation, so when [a utility client was] talking about automating a substation, they taught us how they secure and manage in these environments,” Centoni explained.

Extending Cisco’s intent-based networking to the IoT edge, the company recently announced three new Cisco-validated designs for manufacturing, utilities, and remote and mobile assets. “Our engineering teams try to mimic, as much as possible, a customer’s environment,” Centoni said. “Think of a validated design as enabling our customers to actually accelerate their deployments.”

Other new releases include the new Catalyst industrial switches and industrial integrated services routers purpose-built for IoT environments, new IoT specific developer tools on DevNet, and IoT Partner Trainings.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Cisco Live event. (* Disclosure: Cisco Systems Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Cisco nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo by: SiliconANGLE