The month of November brings the spirit of gratitude, and TD SYNNEX and Cisco are giving partners a feast to celebrate: a groundbreaking shift in data center architecture. In response to the growing demand for data-driven, AI-powered solutions, TD SYNNEX and Cisco are moving beyond traditional data management to embrace a “Cloud and Artificial Intelligence” (CAI) model. This evolution is designed to meet enterprise customers’ expanding AI needs, offering robust hardware and software capabilities that drive innovation. Highlights of the change include the debut of Cisco’s groundbreaking AI Pods and HyperFabric technology, both officially unveiled at the 2024 Cisco Partner Summit.
Restructuring the Data Center Architecture with Cloud and Artificial Intelligence
As the economic impact of AI continues to surge—recent data projecting generative AI to contribute $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually to global economic output—businesses are feeling the pressure to keep pace. According to Cisco’s AI Readiness Index, while 89 percent of IT professionals plan to deploy AI workloads within the next two years, only 14 percent of organizations feel their infrastructure is currently up to the challenge.
TD SYNNEX and Cisco’s CAI architecture aim to bridge this gap, with a focus on Cisco’s UCS and Nexus Cloud Networking and Servers. CAI reimagines data centers for a future dominated by AI, merging cloud flexibility with AI-driven infrastructure. Like bringing family together for Thanksgiving, CAI integrates powerful software and hardware solutions tailored to specific needs, from healthcare to finance and beyond, from multiple vendors into a cohesive ecosystem that can tackle the demands of AI workloads. With a focus on high performance and scalability, businesses are better positioned to meet the complexities of AI-powered innovation confidently.
Cisco’s Chief Product Officer, Jeetu Patel, explained, “Enterprise customers are under pressure to deploy AI workloads, especially as we move toward agentic workflows and AI begins solving problems on its own. Cisco innovations like AI PODs and the GPU server strengthen the security, compliance, and processing power of those workloads as customers navigate their AI journeys from inferencing to training.”
Introducing Cisco AI Pods: Flexibility for Multi-Vendor AI Solutions
Cisco’s AI Pods are the pièce de résistance of this year’s CAI menu. These AI Pods are multi-vendor solutions that integrate AI tools from a variety of providers, serving as a bountiful “cornucopia” of AI capabilities. Each pod is a Cisco-validated solution, designed and tested to bring customers the best of machine learning, natural language processing, and analytics.
AI Pods can transform how organizations operate, supporting tailored AI workloads that address industry-specific needs. For instance, in retail, AI Pods enable personalized shopping experiences by analyzing customer preferences and generating targeted recommendations. In healthcare, a hospital might leverage Cisco’s Nexus HyperFabric, UCS servers, and infrastructure to build AI-powered systems that support healthcare-specific applications, like identifying symptoms and recommending treatments.
By offering such scalable, high-performance AI solutions, Cisco’s AI Pods empower businesses to harness the power of AI for real-time insights and innovation across sectors.
HyperFabric: The Backbone of the New Data Center
Behind every great meal, there’s a kitchen full of coordinated effort, and HyperFabric is the networking backbone making CAI’s magic possible. Acting as the “serving platter” for data flow, HyperFabric enables ultra-fast network routing, much like a well-orchestrated Thanksgiving feast that brings dishes to the table in perfect timing. With plug-and-play simplicity, HyperFabric allows IT teams to set up, monitor, and optimize their network traffic with ease, ensuring that customers get the speed, efficiency, and reliability they need. Whether supporting a holiday rush or everyday business demands, HyperFabric’s design can handle traffic at up to 800 GB/s, serving large enterprises with unmatched performance.
Why AI is Central to Today’s Business Landscape
The move to AI-centric data architecture is driven by a growing recognition of AI’s transformative potential. For businesses, AI brings the promise of:
- Automation: Reducing manual processes so employees can focus on higher-value tasks.
- Efficiency: Processing large data sets at incredible speeds and with pinpoint accuracy.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Enabling informed decisions through real-time insights.
- Customer Personalization: Enhancing user experience with tailored recommendations.
- Scalability: AI systems that evolve alongside business needs.
- Innovation: Opening doors to new products and solutions, driving progress across industries.
Rob Kim, CTO, Presidio, noted, “AI is set to fundamentally change how we do business, but it requires scaling that only robust infrastructure can provide to support accelerated computing demands. We’re excited about Cisco’s efforts to make AI easier for our customers to stand up and manage. With these new solutions, Presidio is able to bring customers new solutions that fit within their existing infrastructure, are easy to deploy and manage, and provide the right infrastructure for their AI journeys.”
Navigating Challenges and Next Steps
Just as Thanksgiving marks a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future, TD SYNNEX and Cisco’s CAI architecture prepares customers for a world where cloud and AI come together to deliver unmatched performance. With AI Pods and HyperFabric leading the way, businesses can be confident that they’re ready to take on future challenges, ensuring that every moment is optimized, efficient, and secure. Here’s to the next chapter of innovation—a feast of new possibilities served by TD SYNNEX and Cisco.
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The EDGE360 editorial team consists of Jackie Davis, Katherine Samiljan, and Jessica Nguyen. You can reach the team at EDGE360@gotostrategic.com.