How is Cisco Systems Inc. coming along in its efforts to become a software-led business?

Looking to answer this and other questions, SiliconANGLE is at Cisco Live, currently underway in Barcelona, Spain, with exclusive commentary and interviews from our roving news desk, theCUBE. (* Disclosure below.)

Cisco’s stock is at a record high at the moment, currently at a 52-week high, with trading at over $42 a share. The company posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter revenue of $12.14 billion, driven by strong growth in its newer businesses, such as applications and security.

“When you think Cisco, you think specifically networking gear. Big boxes with ports and cables. But what does “software eating the world” mean for the biggest supplier in networking?” asked Stu Miniman, an analyst with Wikibon (owned by the same company as SiliconANGLE) who will be one of theCUBE hosts at Cisco Live.

“You’ll hear [Cisco] talking about cloud and networking, at which software is the core. In their boxes, Cisco will also trumpet how important their microchips are, as they use mostly their own proprietary chips. If you tell me it’s all about the software but sell this pricey hardware box, well, which is it?” Miniman asked.

Cisco is a key player in the wireless mesh network market, which is expected to reach $11.13 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research Inc.

“A big theme for 2018 in tech will be the repatriation of overseas funds — Cisco has billions of dollars sitting overseas. What is Cisco doing with it, and what are they buying? They have to do something with that money because there are tax implications,” Miniman said.

Cisco has gotten 2018 off to a good start with the acquisition last week of Skyport Systems Inc., a five-year-old hyperconverged infrastructure provider. While the existing Skyport product won’t survive, Cisco will make use of the company’s technology and people.

At Cisco Live, theCUBE team will also focus on the company’s HyperFlex offering, which was upgraded last week. The update allows HyperFlex 3.0 to enable both multicloud deployments and management of on-premises software containers.

Cisco and Google Inc. announced last year that they were joining forces to help corporate enterprises more easily develop software that spans private data centers and public cloud computing.

Amazon.com Inc. is an existential threat to Cisco, according to Miniman. “As far as I know, Cisco doesn’t sell gear to Amazon. But they have software-led products in the AWS ecosystem. Cisco’s been banging on the IoT drum for years. Who is Cisco today? The company with lots of wires? If so, they’re in trouble.”

Keynote speakers at Cisco Live include Cisco executives Rowan Trollope, senior vice president and general manager of “internet of things” and applications, and David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager of networking and security business, as well as guest keynote speaker Bruce Dickinson, rockstar, entrepreneur, innovator and business angel.

Guest speakers who will present as part of the Innovation Showcases include Cisco executives Tom Edsall, senior vice president, data center switching; Todd Nightingale, senior vice president, Cisco Meraki; Sachin Gupta, senior vice president, enterprise networking; Jeff Reed, senior vice president, security; Jason Lamar, director, product development and security; Liz Centoni, senior vice president and general manager, Compute group; and Susie Wee, vice president and chief technology officer at DevNet Innovations.

Other guest speakers include Firaas Rashid, chief technology officer EMEA at AppDynamics Inc.; Ignacio Bernal, global head of architecture and technology innovation at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.; and Jan Holzmann, team lead data center operations — central network services at Robert Bosch GmbH (commonly known as Bosch).

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch all of theCUBE interviews that will be taking place at Cisco Live Barcelona, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s event on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE’s dedicated website

All of theCUBE’s exclusive interviews from Cisco Live will be available on theCUBE’s dedicated website.

Watch on the SiliconANGLE YouTube channel

All of theCUBE interviews from Cisco Live, which runs until Feb, 2, will also be loaded onto SiliconANGLE’s dedicated YouTube channel.

Cubecasts

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on both SoundCloud and iTunes, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests who will be interviewed at Cisco Live

Guests who will be interviewed on the theCUBE include Cisco Live guest speaker Susie Lee, as well as other Cisco executives Denny Trevett, vice president of ecosystem sales acceleration; Riaz Raihan, global vice president and general manager, chief product officer, IoT; Siva Sivakumar, senior director of data center solutions; Todd Brannon, marketing director; and Adam Kalsey, technical marketing manager.

Other guests include IBM executives Eric Herzog, chief marketing officer and vice president of worldwide storage channels for IBM Storage Division, and Shaun Coulson, vice president of storage solutions sales for Europe.

TheCUBE’s lineup will also include Lee Howard, chief technology officer, global industry solutions and alliances at NetApp Inc., and Michael Cade, global technologist at Veeam Software Inc.

Livestream of Cisco Live

If you are unable to attend Cisco Live in Barcelona, you can still catch a livestream of all the event’s keynotes from the comfort of your home or office. A livestream of select keynotes and sessions will run from Jan. 30 until Feb. 2.

You can watch the event on the Cisco Live EMEA or global event page. For a full agenda of what you can see, click here.

Some videos are also available on-demand so you can watch them after the event.

(* Disclosure: Some segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE are sponsored. Sponsors have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Image: Cisco Live