© 2010 YouSendIt. All rights reserved.

Case Study

Cisco Networking AcademyCisco 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 ChallengesCisco 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:• Theacademyconductsvideocontests,andstudentsaroundtheglobesubmitvideo

files to Treadwell to enter the competition.• About900,000studentsaroundtheworldareworkingtobecomeCiscocertified

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.

• ParticipantsinotherCiscoCSRprogramssendvideostothecompanytoshowhowthe 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.

CiscoCisco Networking AcademyCisco Academy Cuts Time for Administering Contest Video By90PercentwithYouSendIt

© 2010 YouSendIt. All rights reserved.

Case Study

SolutionTreadwell 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 allthefootagethatwillbeusedtocompilethe90-secondvideos.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.

“ 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 TreadwellOnline Community Strategist

Cisco Networking Academy

CiscoCisco Networking AcademyCisco Academy Cuts Time for Administering Contest Video By90PercentwithYouSendIt

YouSendIt, Inc.1919S.BascomAve.,3rdFloor Campbell,CA95008866.55U.SENDsales@yousendit.com www.yousendit.com

ResultsYouSendIt provides a range of benefits to the Cisco Networking Academy:• Timesavings.“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 conteststootherregions.Thecompanyhascountrymangersin160countries 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.

• Improvedfiledelivery. 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.

• Fileexpiration. 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.