During a recent interview in advance of Cisco Systems Inc.’s major conference this month in San Diego, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins plainly had a couple of things he wanted to get off his chest.

One, people should not underestimate the complicated challenge Cisco has faced as a hardware company moving to the cloud, something that software-oriented giants, such as Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Inc., did not have to contend with.

Two, Cisco had to match the move by its customers to the cloud with a shift toward paid software subscriptions, which has made Cisco a much more software-focused company than ever before.

And, finally, the University of North Carolina should have won the NCAA men’s basketball championship this year.

Robbins didn’t actually claim the last item, although the former junior varsity basketball player for the school probably would have liked to, but his other two key points highlight what will be in the spotlight as SiliconANGLE Media Inc. covers Cisco Live 2019 with exclusive commentary and interviews from its livestreaming video studio theCUBE. TheCUBE coverage will begin on Monday, June 10, at 12 p.m. PDT and end on Wednesday, June 12, at 6 p.m. PDT. (* Disclosure below.)

Cultivating developers

Fueling Cisco’s move toward software is the emergence of DevNet, the company’s growing developer program, which is now closing in on 600,000 participants. Under the direction of Susie Wee, senior vice president of DevNet, the initiative welcomed the cloud-native crowd with open arms and meshed neatly with Cisco’s decision to make its networking product portfolio fully programmable.

Cisco has also not been shy about strengthening its software chops though acquisitions. Over the past year, the company has acquired Ensoft Ltd., a maker of software solutions for high-end networks, and July Systems Inc., a cloud-based software as a service platform.

A key element of Cisco’s strategy involves its positioning as a major player in helping customers navigate multicloud environments, and the company has built partnerships with the “Big Three” cloud providers — Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud — to enhance its position. In April, Cisco announced that it would integrate its core hardware platforms and software products with Anthos, Google Cloud’s rebranded hybrid services platform.

Again, acquisitions have also been a key element of Cisco’s multicloud strategy. In February, the company announced its Cloud Center Suite designed to simplify multicloud management, a direct result of its CliQr Technologies Inc. acquisition three years ago.

Early work on 5G

Along with its software transformation and multicloud strategy, Cisco is also poised to be a major player in the evolving narrative for 5G mobile connectivity deployment and the next-generation wireless standard known as Wi-Fi 6. In the company’s earnings call last month, Robbins indicated that his company had been involved in helping telecommunications companies build out core 5G networks ahead of what is expected to be an extensive deployment over several years.

Robbins also indicated that carriers were using Cisco’s technology for early 5G trials, but he did not disclose any results. It’s also worth noting that one of Cisco’s major customers in this area is Rakuten Inc., the Japanese e-commerce and internet company. Cisco is the prime systems integrator for Rakuten’s virtualized telco cloud and has installed 4,000 edge nodes for the firm’s wireless network.

Cisco recently announced new access points for Wi-Fi 6 across its Meraki and Catalyst product lines and is playing a lead role in the OpenRoaming initiative, an effort to simplify Wi-Fi connectivity in different environments.

Security will likely be covered at some point during the keynotes at Cisco Live. Last month, a security research firm disclosed that it had found two vulnerabilities in Cisco’s routers. Cisco soon announced a patch for an iOS remote-control vulnerability and pledged to provide fixes as needed for a more significant secure-enclave exposure, although it took issue with the research firm’s finding that its core “Trust Anchor” protection was open to attack.

Although his college basketball team fell short this year, Robbins has to be pleased with Cisco’s enterprise computing momentum as it enters the second half of 2019. The company’s software transformation and cultivation of developers, its continued drive into the multicloud world and its future role in 5G and new Wi-Fi deployments all offer an enticing agenda for Cisco Live.

Speakers at Cisco Live 2019

Speakers at Cisco Live 2019 include Chuck Robbins, chairman and chief executive officer, Cisco; David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager, networking and security business, Cisco; Amy Chang, senior vice president and general manager, Collaboration Technology Group, Cisco; Maria Martinez, executive vice president and chief customer experience officer, Cisco; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, award-winning actress and environmentalist.

Other event speakers include Susie Wee, senior vice president, Cisco DevNet; Liz Centoni, senior vice president, IoT Business Group, Cisco; Sachin Gupta, senior vice president of product Management, enterprise networking, Cisco; and Danny Winokur, chief product officer, AppDynamics.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch all of theCUBE interviews that will be taking place at Cisco Live, 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 and Ustream

All of theCUBE’s exclusive interviews from Cisco Live 2019 will be available on theCUBE’s dedicated website. You can also watch all the interviews on the dedicated Ustream channel. All of theCUBE interviews from Cisco Live will also be loaded onto SiliconANGLE’s dedicated YouTube channel.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

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

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE at Cisco Live

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE include Susie Wee, senior vice president, Cisco DevNet; Kip Compton, senior vice president, Cisco; Dave Malik, Cisco fellow and chief architect, Cisco; Jeff Scheaffer, vice president, product management and strategy, Cisco; Mike Adams, vice president, technical support and learning, Cisco; Gordon Thomson, vice president of worldwide sales, enterprise networking, Cisco; and Eric Herzog, chief marketing officer and vice president, worldwide storage channels, IBM.

Also being interviewed are Laura Crone, vice president, SMG, NSG sales and marketing, Intel; Terry Ramos, vice president, alliances, Cohesity; Lingping Gao, founder and CEO, NetBrain Technologies; Craig Taylor, executive manager, business technology and platforms, Quantum; and Mike Bundy, head of Cisco strategic alliances, Pure Storage.

For a complete list of theCUBE guests at Cisco Live, visit theCUBE’s event page here.

Livestream of Cisco Live

If you are unable to attend the Cisco Live event in San Diego, you can watch live and on demand here.

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

Photo: Cisco