Cloud is no longer an abstract set of remote services. It has evolved into an operating model, spanning public cloud, on-premises networks and edge locations. The challenge confronting IT managers is how to deal with the complexity this new paradigm will bring.

Meeting the challenges posed by the issues and trends surrounding IT’s evolving model will be the central focus of the “Simplifying Hybrid Cloud” event, a collaboration between Cisco Systems Inc. and theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s livestreaming studio, airing March 23 starting at 1 p.m. EDT.

Meeting distributed demand

Recent data from Enterprise Technology Research highlights a clear outcome from two years of the global pandemic. One-third of workers will likely be operating in a hybrid mode, splitting work time between in-office locations and remote sights.

This new dynamic also requires that application infrastructures must be able to meet this distributed demand. The future of IT will involve applications that can be run with a cloud-like experience on-prem, in the public cloud, and at the edge.

The “Simplifying Hybrid Cloud” event will explore how Cisco’s UCS X-Series chassis server and HyperFlex hyperconverged infrastructure solution, powered by the company’s Intersight technology, will play a significant role in enterprise IT solutions. The agenda will include interviews with company executives and industry experts on how Cisco’s current and soon-to-be-released products will simplify complexity in the hybrid cloud. (* Disclosure below.)

Leveraging Intersight

How significant is hybrid to Cisco’s long-term strategy? In the company’s earnings call in December, it was mentioned at least 16 times, including a notation that Cisco’s cloud operations platform, Intersight, had shown double-digit growth.

Cisco Intersight, introduced in 2017, provides infrastructure optimization with the flexibility to support changing applications. Intersight optimizes workload placement and resource allocations to support applications in any layer, in-cloud or on-prem.

Central to Cisco’s hybrid cloud strategy is providing enterprises with an ability to pool disaggregated compute, storage and memory resources. When the networking giant announced new UCS X-Series servers shipped with Intersight last year, it signaled the company’s focus on managing private data centers and public cloud resources in a composable framework.

“Effectively, what Cisco is doing is creating composable infrastructure,” said Ashish Nadkarni, group vice president of IDC’s infrastructure systems, platforms and technologies group, in comments at the time of the release. “They are laying the groundwork for disaggregation to happen in the hardware.”

Focus on hyperconverged

A focus on composable infrastructure fits with Cisco’s hyperconverged configurations engineered on the UCS platform. The key solution in this area is Cisco HyperFlex, designed to combine compute, storage and network in one platform.

As companies seek to simplify operations and reduce IT costs, a hyperconverged alternative offers an attractive solution. It also supports Cisco’s commitment to as-a-service delivery of a majority of its portfolio.

Cisco’s rise in the hyperconverged arena is worth noting given that two leading competitors in the space, VMware Inc. and Nutanix Inc., entered the market far earlier. Cisco built its HyperFlex offering with the hybrid market in mind, and it is executing on that strategy.

“Cisco has a number of cloud knobs it can turn,” said Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE and chief analyst at Wikibon, SiliconANGLE’s research affiliate, in a recent analysis of Cisco’s market position. “Cisco is looking at public cloud infrastructure as an opportunity on which it can build rather than a threat. It can be the abstraction layer for hybrid, multicloud and edge.”

Livestream of the ‘Cisco: Simplifying Hybrid Cloud’ event

The Cisco: Simplifying Hybrid Cloud event will feature interviews to be broadcast on theCUBE. Register now to watch the event live. Plus, you can watch theCUBE interviews here on demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the Cisco: Simplifying Hybrid Cloud event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

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

During the Cisco: Simplifying Hybrid Cloud event, theCUBE will talk with Cisco’s DD Dasgupta, vice president of product management, cloud and compute solutions; Manish Agarwal, senior director of product management, HyperFlex; and Darren Williams, global HyperFlex sales and business development director.

Also during the event, theCUBE will speak with Cisco’s Vikas Ratna, senior director of product management, UCS, and James Leach, director of business development, UCS.

Event Update!

Check out our full event coverage, as well as post-event coverage, and the complete event video below:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Cisco: Simplifying Hybrid Cloud event. Neither Cisco Systems Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Image: Cisco Systems