Cancun in November is not your ideal spring break destination, but it feels that way as many of us are heading there next week as part of a big contingent to host Cisco Live Cancun 2014. Beyond fun and tourism, lots of excitement awaits Cisco customers on the technology front at Cancun next week.

Cisco Live Cancun 2014 offers two amazing keynotes, 100s of sessions, and the opportunity to network with many of Cisco's premier partners among major attractions.

Rob Lloyd, Cisco President, kick-starts the event with a welcome address keynote Tuesday, Nov 4.  Do not miss the keynote as you will get an insider's perspective on how Cisco and partner companies will make the Internet of Everything (IOE) a reality, and how today's emerging technologies will rewrite the rules for the way we connect and collaborate in the future. This year we also feature a Guest keynote on Wednesday, Nov 5, by Jon Steinberg, the CEO of MailOnline America as well as series of solution keynotes on different topics during the course of the event.

My focus for the rest of this blog will be on Application centric Infrastructure (ACI) and related key activities. I am sure most of you think of ACI as the most happening technology in today's Data Centers, and therefore, are eagerly waiting for deep-dive ACI breakout sessions. I'd recommend Cisco Distinguished TME Maurizio's breakout session on "Integration of Hypervisors and L4-7 Services into an ACI Fabric / Operations" as a must-attend. This session provides a technical introduction to how the ACI fabric handles single and multi-hypervisor environments and how the ACI controller provides integration into different Virtual Machine Management domains.

We are also featuring a multi-hour technical seminar on topic "ACI -Policy Driven Datacenter" complemented by a 2-hour breakout "End-to-End ACI by another Cisco Distinguished SE Carlos Pereira.

If you are challenged for time, we also have short duration ACI presentations at the Cisco Theater in the World of Solutions (WOS). The WOS opens on Tuesday, Nov 4 at 8 PM with a welcome reception. You can enjoy your time at the Cisco Theater where we feature non-stop 15 minute presentations on multiple topics including three repeating sessions on ACI. Specifically, there is a session on each of the following topics: Open ACI Eco-System, ACI for Campus and WAN, and ACI and SDN.  This will give you an end-end perspective on ACI architecture and strategy.

As we have seen in other Cisco Live events, demos are a major draw at the WOS. This year's event will include multiple demos including several ACI solutions with OpenStack, F5 and Citrix eco-system integration, Multi-hypervisor integration featuring VMware and Microsoft, and a number of other SDN solutions for Campus and WAN deployments.

Stop by our Cisco booth at the WOS to engage our subject matter experts for a deep-dive engagement. We can also do architectural white-boarding and walkthroughs to address your specific needs.

If you wondered about entertainment, well I read your mind. To celebrate with you, we are bringing an incredible band Starship at the customer appreciation event, on Thursday, Nov 6. It will be a night to remember.

We also offer in addition, Walk-in labs, a Cloud day featuring new trends in Cisco Intercloud (Monday, Nov 3), Industry summit on Internet of Everything trends (Tuesday, Nov 4), and a networking opportunity to meet the experts at the Expert Area in the Expo Center.

While at the event, follows us via social media on Twitter, Facebook and other outlets. It can be overwhelming to even a regular Cisco Live attendee as the list of activities is vast.  If you are new, do not feel overwhelmed and I have been there myself. Our Information desk and reception ambassadors can make you feel at home and help you find the agenda activity of your interest throughout the event duration.

Well, I do not want to share all the fun and excitement and take away the spirit of adventure and discovery from you.  Hope to see you at the event and safe travels.

Related Links:

www.ciscolivecancun.com

www.cisco.com/go/aci