Case Study
Cisco
Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco Academy Cuts Time for Administering Contest Video
By 90 Percent with YouSendIt
Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco Networking Academy is a global
education program that teaches students
how to design, build, troubleshoot,
and secure computer networks for
increased access to career and economic
opportunities in communities around
the world. Cisco’s largest corporate
social responsibility (CSR) program, the
Networking Academy provides online
courses, interactive tools, and hands-on
learning activities to help individuals
prepare for careers in information
and communication technologies and
networking in virtually every type of
industry. The ability of students to submit
videos to participate in contests is integral
to the academy’s activities, as is the
ability to receive videos from participants
in all of the company’s other corporate
social responsibility programs around the
world, ranging from education programs
to economic development initiatives.
The Problem
• Using FTP to send videos to
Cisco proved to be difficult and
confusing for many who benefit
from Cisco programs.
• Video cameras containing students’
contest submissions that were sent
by courier often were damaged,
stolen or lost.
• Sorting through entries required
as much as 20 hours of academy
staff time.
The Solution
• With YouSendIt Corporate Suite
and SiteDrop, program participants
and contest entrants can simply
drop their video files from Flip Video
camcorders in the DropBox on the
academy’s website.
• SiteDrop can be duplicated very
easily on the academy’s local sites
in many countries across the globe.
• Instead of requiring 20 hours to
administer contest entries, the
academy staff needs only one
or two hours with YouSendIt.
Situation and Challenges
Cisco Networking Academy is a global education program that teaches students how
to design, build, troubleshoot, and secure computer networks for increased access to
career and economic opportunities in communities around the world. Cisco’s largest
corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, the Networking Academy provides online
courses, interactive tools, and hands-on learning activities to help individuals prepare
for careers in information and communication technologies and networking in virtually
every type of industry.
As an important part of his work to support this effort, academy Online Community
Strategist Charlie Treadwell sends and receives video files recorded on Flip Video
camcorders, a brand that is owned and marketed by Cisco. Based in Phoenix, Ariz.,
Treadwell receives videos from participants in a number of of the company’s
CSR programs:
• The academy conducts video contests, and students around the globe submit video
files to Treadwell to enter the competition.
• About 900,000 students around the world are working to become Cisco certified
network administrators by studying curricula that the academy develops and
distributes to community colleges, high schools and training schools. These students
and partner institutions frequently send videos back to the academy to show how they
are using Cisco products. “We’ve been trying to collect more video content because
it’s more effective when delivering messages,” Treadwell said.
• Participants in other Cisco CSR programs send videos to the company to show how
the programs are being implemented and results being achieved. These programs
include such initiatives as working with global organizations like Teachers Without
Borders to leverage technology to improve the quality of education, helping school
districts develop student-centered learning environments that teach critical-thinking
skills. Similarly, Cisco economic development programs help individuals improve
their standard of living through networking and information and communications
technology.
The video files prepared by participants in these programs typically total 1GB to 2GB
in size; so, until recently, the files needed to be sent by courier service or through an FTP
server. An effort to send camcorders by courier was problematic, because often cameras
were damaged, stolen or lost. Burning a DVD of the file and shipping it was an expensive
method for many people in other nations, especially students. FTP was difficult for
inexperienced individuals to use for submissions.
Treadwell was spending 20 hours sorting through entries for each student contest and
sending and receiving videos. He tried a pilot competition in which students could
upload their videos to YouTube for judging and fax Treadwell the entry forms. “The faxes
were terrible,” Treadwell said, “and even finding a video on YouTube was a challenge.
After the contest, we still had to use FTP to obtain a high-resolution version of the video.”
The academy sought an easier and more efficient way to receive and distribute videos,
both for its contests and from its partner institutions and students.
© 2010 YouSendIt. All rights reserved.

Cisco
Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco Academy Cuts Time for Administering Contest Video
By 90 Percent with YouSendIt
“
YouSendIt has made it
easy for people around the
world to send us videos that
show how they are using
FlipVideo and the impact
of our community-oriented
programs. We are saving a
tremendous amount of time
in receiving and processing
these video files, and our
streamlined communication
with Networking Academy
students now is much
”
simpler and speedier.
Charlie Treadwell
Online Community Strategist
Cisco Networking Academy
YouSendIt, Inc.
1919 S.Bascom Ave., 3rd Floor
Campbell, CA 95008
866.55U.SEND
sales@yousendit.com
www.yousendit.com
Case Study
Solution
Treadwell began examining digital file delivery solutions and evaluated YouSendIt
against drop.io. He found that YouSendIt offered a lower cost and was easier to use.
He deployed YouSendIt Corporate Suite to a dozen academy staff members and placed
a YouSendIt DropBox on the academy’s website, where students could leave video
files for the academy to consider.
“YouSendIt’s SiteDrop will make my life a lot easier and simpler,” Treadwell said.
“I want to allow people to run local contests in various countries, so the cool thing
about YouSendIt is that I can duplicate the SiteDrop in another country with just the
click of a button.”
Treadwell has acquired other software to receive entry forms and synch them with videos
left in the DropBox. “We tested it—and it worked,” Treadwell reported. “YouSendIt really
simplifies the whole process, and I like it a lot. It’s idiot proof.”
The academy will be receiving videos from all over the world via YouSendIt and will
translate its local sites into multiple languages.
Why YouSendIt?
Now a student or participant in any Cisco CSR program, for example, will be able to
shoot a video anywhere in the world and send it back to Cisco within 30 minutes. Often
Treadwell receives raw footage that the academy edits, and YouSendIt will easily deliver
all the footage that will be used to compile the 90-second videos.
The Flip Video footage is recorded in high definition; but, with YouSendIt, entrants will
not need to compress the files to send them. “And YouSendIt doesn’t charge for file size
but for files sent,” Treadwell observed. “That helps us.”
Treadwell is using YouTube to display the five finalists for each contest and to ask the
community to vote. With YouSendIt, he said, it’s easy to receive the full video from
entrants and upload it to YouTube or any other video sharing site.
Results
YouSendIt provides a range of benefits to the Cisco Networking Academy:
• Time savings. “YouSendIt will improve my productivity immensely,” Treadwell
declared. Instead of spending 20 hours on video contest submissions, he estimates
it will require only one to two hours.
• Scalability. Treadwell appreciates the ease with which he can expand his video
contests to other regions. The company has country mangers in 160 countries
and can replicate a contest simply by adding another SiteDrop account. “It will be
easy and inexpensive to run these contents in those regions, where budgets often
are low,” Treadwell noted.
• Improved file delivery. The academy and contest entrants no longer will need to
use courier services or FTP; all the videos can be delivered easily through YouSendIt.
“YouSendIt has streamlined the contest process,” Treadwell said.
• File expiration. Treadwell finds it useful to be able to automatically delete video
files after a scheduled period on YouSendIt servers. “These are big files,” he said.
“I don’t want this to turn into a storage system; it’s a delivery system.”
YouSendIt has made the file-delivery process of Cisco Networking Academy’s global
operations much simpler and will support expansion of the academy’s programs
to more regions around the world.
© 2010 YouSendIt. All rights reserved.