Cisco believes the network platform is a foundational component of Cloud. The network is critical to providing intelligent connectivity within and beyond the data center. It also enables distinctive functionality in a secure, trusted, and ubiquitous platform. The network is the natural home for management and enforcement of policies relating to risk, performance, and cost. Only the network sees all data, connected resources, and user interactions over the public internet, as well as within and between Clouds. The network is thus uniquely positioned to monitor and meter usage and performance of distributed Cloud services and infrastructure.

The network also has a pivotal role to play in promoting resilience and reliability. For example, the network supports dynamic orchestration, scheduling, and redirection of workloads and intelligent automation to reconfigure resources. The network platform is also critical to advanced Cloud services. The network is inherently aware of the physical location of resources and users. Context-aware services can anticipate the needs of users and deploy resources appropriately, balancing end-user experience and cost of service.

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