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How multi-site producers use cobot options to spice up profitability—rapidly and safely


Manufacturing operations are underneath fixed strain to ship extra with much less, making cobot options a quick observe to measurable positive factors, particularly for multi-site operations. Whether or not you’re overseeing 5 crops or fifty, there is a rising physique of proof: cobots can improve output and speed up ROI with out compromising security or requiring months of disruptive modifications.

Drawing from real-world expertise in multi-site deployments, this is how producers are making cobots work—and how one can too.

Stage Up Your Cisco Partnership with Black Belt Academy


In a world the place know-how evolves at lightning pace, staying aggressive means staying knowledgeable. For Cisco companions, success hinges on having the best instruments, coaching, and insights to ship distinctive worth to prospects. Enter Black Belt Academy—a game-changing enablement platform that goes past conventional coaching. Designed to empower your crew and drive measurable development, Black Belt Academy has turn into a cornerstone of associate success inside the Cisco ecosystem. With a formidable group of over 7,500 distinctive companions and 53,000+ energetic learners yearly, it’s adoption continues to soar—proving that data actually is energy.

The Black Belt Academy Worth Proposition: Your Development Engine

Black Belt Academy stands on three highly effective pillars that drive associate success:

  • Tailor-made, Development-Targeted Content material: Say goodbye to one-size-fits-all coaching! Black Belt Academy delivers high-quality, role-specific content material designed to empower your groups with the data they should confidently sort out buyer alternatives and real-world tasks. Focused data to drive actual outcomes.
  • Quarterly Agile Updates: In a fast-moving know-how panorama, staying related is vital. With quarterly updates, Black Belt Academy ensures companions are all the time up to date with the most recent insights, aligning with Cisco’s Go-to-Market (GTM) and International Associate Engineering (GPE) priorities to remain forward within the ever-evolving know-how panorama.
  • Free and Accessible for All: Democratizing entry to excellence. Black Belt Academy is free for all companions, no matter measurement or location, guaranteeing equal alternative for development and success throughout the board.

Black Belt Academy and the Cisco 360 Associate Program: A Strategic Alignment

The Black Belt Academy is an integral a part of Cisco’s built-in associate enablement technique and tightly aligned with the Cisco 360 Associate Program. It enhances different enablement affords like Cisco Profession Certifications and Cisco Xpert, serving to companions improve their Associate Worth Index (PVI) rating and unlock better alternatives inside the Cisco ecosystem. Its content material is strategically aligned with Cisco 360 focus areas—Cloud & AI, Networking, Collaboration, Safety, and Companies—guaranteeing relevance to enterprise priorities and key know-how domains. Collectively, they create a holistic, results-driven ecosystem that make Black Belt Academy a dynamic enabler of associate excellence.

Addressing Your Issues: Transparency and Steady Enchancment 

We perceive that you might have questions or issues in regards to the Black Belt Academy. Listed below are some widespread points and the way we’re addressing them, utilizing the precise responses supplied:

  • Coaching and Certifications: Cisco affords companions a wealth of knowledge for them to grasp Cisco’s know-how and put together themselves to supply world class options to their prospects. Cisco 360 Associate Program honors companions investments in each Cisco Profession Certifications in addition to the Black Belt Academy for companions. These packages are complementary in nature as Cisco Profession Certifications deal with deep technical abilities whereas Black Belt Academy focuses on accelerating companions ‘development alternatives.
  • Coaching Platform and Examination Expertise: Black Belt Academy recommends companions examine the obtainable course materials earlier than retaking the quiz/evaluation. Incorrect solutions is not going to be disclosed on the finish of every try. Cisco continues to work to offer one of the best coaching platform for companions, offering bug fixes and including performance on a steady foundation.
  • Knowledge and Calculation Transparency: Cisco 360 Associate Program, PXP and Black Belt Academy are working collectively to offer clear metrics and calculations pertaining to every PVI. The Cisco 360 FAQs in the present day have a whole listing of all Black Belt Academy trainings eligible per portfolio. Our imaginative and prescient is to offer an automatic and easy method to determine eligible trainings in each the educational platform in addition to in PXP for simpler consumption and evaluation.
  • Localization and Assist: Cisco is constructing a world class translation platform to offer companions localized coaching content material inside Black Belt as a part of the Cisco 360 Associate Program. This shall be obtainable in 1HFY26.
  • Outcomes-Based mostly Gross sales Coaching: Because the content material steady to evolve with Excessive High quality in thoughts, the Gross sales position coaching will evolve to a extra outcomes-based gross sales coaching the place gross sales representatives can higher articulate worth proposition, deal with objections and prospect alternatives. Gross sales position will see enhancements beginning Q4FY25 and can proceed unto 1HFY26.

The Black Belt Academy is your associate in success inside the Cisco ecosystem. On the coronary heart of the associate enablement, the Black Belt Academy stands as your final supply in driving development and attaining excellence. With tailor-made, role-specific content material, steady updates to maintain you forward of the curve, and straight addressing your issues, we’re right here to empower you each step of the way in which. Don’t simply sustain—cleared the path. Unlock the ability of the Black Belt Academy and speed up your development in the present day!

 

We encourage you to go to SalesConnect share your ideas, ideas, and experiences with us. 

 


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Networking errors pose risk to information heart reliability



Nonetheless, IT and networking points elevated in 2024, based on Uptime Institute. The evaluation attributed the rise in outages because of elevated IT and community complexity, particularly, change administration and misconfigurations.

“Notably with distributed companies, cloud companies, we discover that cascading failures typically happen when networking tools is replicated throughout a complete community,” Lawrence defined. “Typically the failure of 1 forces site visitors to maneuver in a single path, overloading capability at one other information heart.”

The commonest causes of main network-related outages have been cited as:

  • Configuration/change administration failure: 50%
  • Third-party community supplier failure: 34%
  • {Hardware} failure: 31%
  • Firmware/software program error: 26%
  • Line breakages: 17%
  • Malicious cyberattack: 17%
  • Community overload/congestion failure: 13%
  • Corrupted firewall/routing tables points: 8%
  • Climate-related incident: 7%

Configuration/change administration points additionally attributed for 62% of the commonest causes of main IT system-/software-related outages. Change-related disruptions constantly are accountable for software-related outages.

Human error continues to be one of many “most persistent challenges in information heart operations,” based on Uptime’s evaluation. The report discovered that the most important trigger of those failures is information heart employees failing to observe established procedures, which has elevated by about 10 proportion factors in comparison with 2023.

“These are issues that have been 100% beneath our management. I imply, we will’t management when the UPS module fails as a result of it was both poorly manufactured, it had a flaw, or one thing else. That is 100% beneath our management,” Brown stated. The commonest causes of main human error-related outages have been reported as:

Unlocking the Way forward for Finance


The DeFi market is rising quick, and so is the competitors. To face out, your DeFi platform wants extra than simply strong performance; it should even be safe, user-friendly, and constructed to scale. We’ve put collectively 10 highly effective methods that can assist you obtain precisely that.

Introduction to DeFi Platform Improvement

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has gone from a distinct segment thought to an enormous world motion — and it’s simply getting began. In 2025 alone, the variety of DeFi customers reached over 53 million, with billions of {dollars} flowing into platforms that supply all the things from lending and buying and selling to incomes passive revenue by yield farming.

Key DeFi Profit

Conventional Finance

Decentralized Finance

Availability Restricted hours, weekdays Companies accessible 24/7
Danger Profile Third-party custodial danger Self-custody of belongings
Programmability Restricted automation Good contract automation
Accessibility Geographic restrictions World Entry
Transparency Restricted visibility Absolutely seen on the blockchain
Composability Siloed programs Straightforward integration with different protocols
Transaction Velocity Days for settlement Minutes or seconds
Innovation Tempo Sluggish, regulated adjustments Speedy iteration and innovation

10 Key Methods for Environment friendly DeFi Platform Improvement

Constructing a profitable DeFi platform requires extra than simply coding — it calls for a transparent imaginative and prescient, strong technical foundations, and cautious planning. The next methods spotlight the best approaches to make sure your platform shouldn’t be solely safe and scalable but additionally aggressive in as we speak’s DeFi market.

1. Safety-First Improvement Strategy

Safety measures are the cornerstone of any DeFi platform. On this subject, big sums of cash are at stake, which signifies that even a minor error within the code can result in severe monetary losses. That’s why the event course of ought to begin with a transparent give attention to defending customers and their cash.

Every sensible contract ought to be completely examined, together with code audits and formal verification, to make sure that it really works as meant. It’s endorsed to check performance on restricted volumes first to reduce potential losses.

After launch, the platform ought to be always monitored for suspicious exercise and have instruments to shortly reply to threats, as much as the flexibility to droop operations in emergency circumstances.

2. Optimized Liquidity Administration

If a DeFi platform doesn’t have sufficient liquidity, it will be unable to work correctly — transactions decelerate, exchanges endure losses, and customers depart. Subsequently, it is very important assume upfront about how one can appeal to and retain liquidity.

Good tasks inspire contributors: somebody earns cash by farming and staking, and somebody will get revenue for offering funds to swimming pools. Extra superior approaches additionally embody pooling liquidity from completely different networks or partnerships with different protocols.

How to decide on? Principally, all of it depends upon your targets: buying and selling requires quick and worthwhile transactions, and lending platforms require a adequate inventory of funds. However in any case, there should be liquidity, and you will need to know how one can handle it.

3. Cross-Chain Integration and Interoperability

Because the variety of blockchain networks grows, DeFi platforms more and more want cross-chain interoperability capabilities. Platforms that function on a number of blockchains have entry to a wider viewers and extra digital belongings.

Key Features of DeFi

For this function, it is very important introduce instruments on the growth stage that allow cross-network connectivity: asset switch bridges, sensible contracts with multi-network logic, wallets that help completely different blockchains, in addition to common token requirements and interoperable interfaces.

4. Specializing in a Good Person Expertise

The success and recognition of a DeFi platform closely rely on a user-friendly interface that’s each intuitive and straightforward to know.

Blockchain know-how itself is kind of complicated, and the duty of builders is to guarantee that the person doesn’t really feel it. The less complicated and extra intuitive the interplay, the upper the possibility that an individual will keep on the platform and use it usually.

The platform ought to supply a simple begin even for newbies, assist them perceive potential dangers, accompany actions with clear clues, and supply help at each stage. One of many most important the explanation why potential customers keep away from DeFi is overloaded interfaces and sophisticated terminology.

5. Efficient Tokenomics Design

On the basis of each profitable DeFi venture lies a robust and balanced tokenomics. This isn’t only a monetary mannequin — it’s a technique that determines how the platform will develop, who will take part in it, and what incentives will drive the ecosystem ahead.

A token should fulfill a number of duties directly: it should be a great tool inside the platform, a way of motivating contributors, and a administration aspect. A well-thought-out issuance mannequin, honest distribution of tokens, reward mechanisms, and group involvement in decision-making — all this varieties a residing and sustainable financial system that may adapt and develop.

Past technical design, sustainable tokenomics should be supported by a sound enterprise mannequin. DeFi platforms want constant income to keep up operations, reward contributors, and gasoline innovation.

Frequent monetization methods embody transaction-based charges, premium options for superior customers, and token worth appreciation mechanisms (comparable to burning or restricted provide). Treasury administration, strategic investments, and partnerships additionally play a key function.

To develop their person base, profitable groups depend on advertising techniques like academic content material, referral rewards, collaborations with different protocols, farming incentives for early adopters, and community-focused occasions. Balancing acquisition price with long-term person worth is important for regular development.

6. Scalable Technical Structure

Platforms must be able to develop. In the event that they don’t repair scaling issues, they’ll hit limits. To scale higher, they will use issues like Layer 2 options, sensible contracts that use much less energy, modular designs, higher storage programs, and shifting some work off the blockchain to hurry issues up and get monetary savings.

Scaling additionally depends upon selecting the correct instruments and programs. For the frontend, it’s good to make use of React, Vue.js, or Web3.js, relying on what customers want and the way necessary cell is. For looking out and getting blockchain information, builders can use instruments like The Graph or construct their very own, relying on how briskly they want the information and the way they wish to share it.

7. Complete Governance Mechanisms

One of many most important variations between DeFi and conventional finance is the chance to take part within the administration of the platform. Right here, selections are made not by particular person firms, however by the group.

 DeFi Over Traditional Finance

A very good administration system isn’t just a button for voting. It’s a complete construction: how one can submit proposals, how voting takes place, who has the suitable to resolve, and what to do in a non-standard scenario. Every thing ought to be clear, dependable, and comprehensible.

When customers can affect necessary selections — whether or not it’s altering commissions or creating the protocol — they really feel accountable and dependable to the platform. And the venture will get the help of an energetic and group.

8. Regulatory Compliance Methods

Early DeFi platforms have been developed with little oversight, however that’s altering. Builders are more and more establishing compliance on the design stage, which is changing into an necessary step not just for survival, but additionally for development.

Platforms are more and more implementing measures that handle regulatory necessities, from KYC/AML procedures for big shoppers to geographic restrictions, clear reporting, authorized frameworks, and integration of compliance pointers. These approaches enhance person belief, assist keep away from authorized dangers, and open up entry to new audiences.

9. Information Analytics and Efficiency Optimization

Information-driven groups can enhance platforms by learning person actions and market tendencies. Analytics ought to be deliberate earlier than constructing DeFi platforms. Key metrics ought to observe person development, retention, liquidity use, dangers, fuel prices, and the way rivals carry out.

These insights assist groups make higher platforms, spot issues, and modify plans. DeFi companies that may change primarily based on information acquire large edges within the crypto subject.

10. Neighborhood Constructing and Ecosystem Improvement

Each DeFi venture wants help from a robust group to final. Prime tasks deal with group constructing as key to their work. Constructing good teams wants clear talks, studying content material, coder help, fan packages, and shared selections.

Keep in mind that platforms develop stronger when customers counsel options, report points, and promote the app.

Greatest Practices to Watch: Studying from Success

Learning high DeFi platforms offers key insights for builders. These platforms used many strategies we’ve mentioned:

Lending and Borrowing Platforms

Danger management on Aave and Compound, for instance, works at excessive ranges by completely different instruments that shield the platform and customers:

  • Versatile mortgage phrases primarily based on market tendencies
  • Closing programs that shield lenders
  • Charge fashions that steadiness provide and demand
  • Danger settings set by token holders
  • Assist for a lot of belongings with different danger ranges

By way of cautious cash design, these platforms present how risky markets can nonetheless help steady monetary merchandise.

Decentralized Exchanges

Numerous trade plans emerge by platforms like Uniswap and Curve Finance by providing other ways to commerce tokens straight between customers:

  • Auto market maker fashions change order books
  • Distinctive math for various buying and selling pairs
  • Charges steadiness supplier rewards towards person prices
  • Token rewards to begin the primary liquidity
  • Voting programs for setting adjustments

Apart from, these exchanges hold enhancing by new cash-use strategies and commerce slip fixes.

Yield Aggregators

Prime-level automation exists on the yield farming platform Yearn Finance to get the most effective returns:

  • Funding plans by watching real-time yields
  • Danger-based return math
  • Autogas prices are mounted when altering spots
  • Vault designs for pooled funds
  • Voting-approved plan settings

These platforms present how tech raises returns whereas making person steps simpler.

Future Tendencies in DeFi Improvement

Creating Decentralized Platforms

DeFi platform growth ought to take present requirements under consideration, in addition to regulate business evolution. The sector is being formed by new applied sciences and strategies; understanding these tendencies helps one develop sustainable options meant for enlargement.

Layer 2 Scaling Options

Future DeFi wants Layer 2 scaling to repair sluggish speeds and excessive charges. Development ought to embody rollup help for off-chain work, cross-rollup hyperlinks, combined designs balancing security and velocity, information fixes, and quick fund strikes to chop wait occasions. These instruments assist DeFi platforms serve many customers at low price with excessive velocity.

Actual-World Asset Tokenization

Bringing actual belongings to DeFi creates development by constructing authorized token programs with off-chain worth monitoring, rule checks, partial stakes, and ID checks to generate profits from actual property, items, and shares. Outdated finance teams becoming a member of DeFi will lead the market and make large good points within the coming years. Actual asset tokens significantly increase the DeFi attain.

Enhanced Privateness Options

Whereas assembly guidelines, privateness will turn out to be extra key with math proofs to verify info with out sharing particulars, personal sensible contracts to cover information, quiet trades for companies, shared particulars for checks whereas maintaining secrets and techniques, and authorized privateness instruments balancing person rights with guidelines. These instruments assist DeFi platforms draw extra customers and teams fearful about privateness. As previous finance enters DeFi, privateness perks shall be key promoting factors.

Institutional DeFi Integration

DeFi development will velocity up as large companies want particular asset care following guidelines, danger instruments for checks, hyperlinks with previous buying and selling programs, higher money use, and security for sensible contracts. Finance companies wish to be part of DeFi by customized security and instruments they want for his or her funds. Platforms providing these fixes have an enormous gross sales scope.

AI and Machine Studying Integration

DeFi platforms enhance by AI and machine studying:

  • ML fashions spot seemingly mortgage dangers
  • Auto market makers acquire from commerce plan fixes
  • Odd sample checks discover dangers
  • Person motion research makes screens higher
  • Good fashions for finest yield farming plans

When blockchain works with AI, DeFi platforms acquire robust new expertise. This combine creates safer programs, higher fund use, and extra customized screens.

Conclusion: Constructing for the Way forward for Finance

DeFi platform constructing wants a full plan, becoming a member of tech fixes with cash and group components. The ten key strategies on this information assist groups construct robust platforms on this fast-paced subject. DeFi will develop the place platforms give attention to security, person ease, and new concepts.

Our agency, SCAND, gives full DeFi platform growth. We’ve got tech expertise and clear targets. Our most important focus is security, ease of use, and development room. Our specialists work with shoppers to construct key apps matching high DeFi tendencies.

Why AI brokers want a protocol like MCP to achieve their potential


AI brokers have been all the fashion over the past a number of months, which has led to a have to give you a typical for the way they convey with instruments and information, resulting in the creation of the Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP) by Anthropic.

MCP is “an open normal that allows builders to construct safe, two-way connections between their information sources and AI-powered instruments,” Anthropic wrote in a weblog submit saying it was open sourcing the protocol. 

MCP can do for AI brokers what USB does for computer systems, Lin Solar, senior director of open supply at cloud native connectivity firm Solo.io, defined. 

As an illustration, a pc wants a means to connect with peripherals like a mouse, keyboard, or exterior storage, and USB is a typical that gives that connectivity. Equally, MCP permits AI brokers to connect with totally different instruments and information sources, like Google Calendar. It gives “a typical option to declare the instruments so the instruments will be simply found and will be simply reused by totally different AI purposes,” she stated. 

Based on Keith Pijanowski, AI options engineer at object storage firm MinIO, an instance use case for MCP is an AI agent for journey that may ebook a trip that adheres to somebody’s finances and schedule. Utilizing MCP, the agent may have a look at the consumer’s checking account to see how a lot cash they should spend on a trip, have a look at their calendar to make sure it’s reserving journey after they have day without work, and even doubtlessly have a look at their firm’s HR system to ensure they’ve PTO left. 

One other instance is that NVIDIA collaborated with Disney and DeepMind to construct robots that comprise AI brokers that be sure that the robotic’s actions don’t tip it over. “It’s obtained to go name a variety of totally different information sources in addition to run issues by a physics engine,” stated Pijanowski. 

The way it works

MCP consists of servers and shoppers. The MCP server is how an utility or information supply exposes its information, whereas the MCP consumer is how AI purposes connect with these information sources. 

“Consider the server as a option to expose one thing that you have already got in home in order that your agent can use it and be sensible,” stated Pijanowski.

MinIO truly developed its personal MCP server, which permits customers to ask the AI agent about their MinIO set up like what number of buckets they’ve, the contents of a bucket, or different administrative questions. The agent may go questions off to a different LLM after which come again with a solution. 

“That’s attention-grabbing, as a result of the controlling LLM is making use of one other LLM downstream to place collectively an excellent higher reply for you,” stated Pijanowski.

A number of different firms have already got their very own MCP servers as properly, together with Atlassian, AWS, Azure, Discord, Docker, Figma, Gmail, Kubernetes, Notion, ServiceNow, and extra. Numerous database and information providers suppliers even have their very own MCP servers, similar to Airtable, Databricks, InfluxDB, MariaDB, MongoDB, MSSQL, MySQL, Neo4j, Redis, and many others. 

“As an alternative of sustaining separate connectors for every information supply, builders can now construct in opposition to a typical protocol. Because the ecosystem matures, AI programs will keep context as they transfer between totally different instruments and datasets, changing at this time’s fragmented integrations with a extra sustainable structure,” Anthropic wrote in its weblog submit. 

Easy methods to get began

Solar stated that anybody seeking to get began with MCP ought to go to modelcontextprocol.io as a result of it has a variety of worthwhile info. She recommends builders decide a language they really feel comfy in and comply with the Fast Begin information, which can lead them by way of the right way to develop an MCP server and join it to a number. 

“It’s a really attention-grabbing expertise to undergo that easy state of affairs of that is what my MCP server and instruments appear like, and that is my consumer, and the way the consumer is asking to the server, then to the instruments,” she stated. 

Pijanowski additionally advisable Anthropic’s documentation, including that it’s very properly written. He additionally advocated for beginning small after which constructing on high of previous successes so as to add extra complexity. “I might not attempt to use MCP or do any sort of agent improvement the place my v1 goes to loop in 100 information sources … Simply add one information supply at a time. Let every information supply be a brand new fast launch, and reveal how with that information supply, you can begin asking extra difficult questions,” he stated.