...integration process? Re: Acquiring other companies is an important strategy for Cisco to rapidly offer new products, reach new markets, and grow revenue. Cisco strengths were its large scale production reaching to large customer base, good reputation, and good financing capabilities. However, unlike other networking companies Cisco doesn’t always develop new technologies on it own and have to rely on acquisition. Cisco acquisition selection should the meet criteria to ensure it meets its acquisition objectives- the companies should have compatible vision for industry and product perspective, share complementary culture, produce short and long term benefits to Cisco shareholders and company should be geographically located close to Cisco. While, for smother acquisition integration Cisco should setup consistent and adaptable product, personnel and manufacturing acquisition process and at the same time continually refine the process from the lessons learned. Q2. Does the Cisco’s process adequately address the challenges of the Summa Four acquisition? Re: Summa Four was a leading provider of programmable switches which will enable Cisco to offer value- added telephony applications to new and existing service providers. Due to the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, service providers were in a competitive race to develop and deliver these types of enhanced services to their customers. Cisco announced it would acquire the Manchester, New Hampshire—based company in...
Words: 307 - Pages: 2
...John Morgridge joined Cisco as a CEO in the year 1988. The very first thing he notices in the organization was the lack of professional management team. Initiation for professional management team was the first kick off for the organization. Professional management is considered to be the foundation of any big organization and Cisco started with this thereby sticking with the fundamentals. The professional team clashed with the founders ending up them leaving the company and giving a free hand to Morgridge to handle the organization in a disciplined manner in terms of management. Cisco as an organization started off with a very positive note thereby centralizing the functional areas. Except product marketing and research and development all the other areas (finance, human resources, manufacturing, IT, customer support etc.) were centralized. Although the initial changes in the organization doesn’t claims to the success factor for future implementation, but yes it certainly add a bit to It thereby streamlining the management with a transparent and clear view to proceed. The company was doing extremely well after going public in 1990 and in 1993 reaching the $500 million target. From this it can be clearly seen that the company was in a rapid move to success from the moment it became public in 1990. Analyzing the requirements in the right stage and planning for it is the first initiation which stands for cisco’s success. The need was addressed with respect to the future growth...
Words: 1879 - Pages: 8
...CASE: GS-66 DATE: 06/05/09 CISCO SYSTEMS, INC.: COLLABORATING ON NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION On November 13, 2007, more than 100 employees of Cisco Systems, Inc. assembled in classic Cisco fashion: they dialed in from multiple locations around the world for an important meeting. The purpose of the gathering was to get the green light from senior management to manufacture a new high-end router that would make the giant networking company more competitive in an age of surging Internet traffic.1 The project’s code name, Viking, said it all. The router for broadband service providers would break ground in power and speed, reminiscent of the Norse warriors and explorers of Europe during the eighth to eleventh centuries. The meeting represented a culmination of several years of development work by a cross-functional, global team of Cisco specialists in engineering, manufacturing, marketing and other areas. Just months earlier, in mid-2007, Cisco overhauled the project by sharply boosting the router’s speed and capacity. This would allow the company to leapfrog competitors and offer a low-cost, powerful new router platform for the next 10 to 15 years. That day in November, the Viking team was seeking an “execution commit” from senior management in manufacturing. If it got the go-ahead, Cisco would be ready to commit the resources to launch the new product. But the Cisco team knew it faced many challenges. The Viking project would be one of the company’s most complex...
Words: 12040 - Pages: 49
...Finance 560 Securities Analysis Course Project: Stock Analysis – Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Company’s Summary Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry worldwide. It offers routers that interconnects public and private IP networks for mobile, data, voice, and video applications; switching products, which provide connectivity to end users, workstations, IP phones, access points, and servers; application networking services; and home networking products, such as adapters, gateways, modems, and home network management software. The company also offers security products comprising span firewall, intrusion prevention, remote access, virtual private network, unified client, Web, and email security and network security products; storage area networking products for data center environments that deliver connectivity between servers and storage systems; collaboration products to integrate voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks; video connected home products, including digital video distribution systems and digital interactive set-top boxes; and wireless systems. In addition, it provides optical networking products, Cisco TelePresence systems, Cisco Unified Computing Systems, physical security and video surveillances, and digital media systems. Further, the company offers technical support services; and responsive...
Words: 1105 - Pages: 5
...INTRODUCTION Cisco Systems was started by a team of husband and wife, Leonaid Bosack and Sandy J. Lerner in 1984. They developed the first specialized microcomputer that enable two or more networks communicate with each other by deciphering, translating and funnelling data between them. This microcomputer also called as “multi-protocol” router has opened up and boosted the functionality of the Internet world. Over the years, Cisco managed to become the spearhead in the data networking equipment market which saw the company provided and manufactured large-scale router that powered the Internet. As Cisco Systems grow and expand over the years, so did the company’s product portfolio. With routers and switches being the core products of the company, other products and services such as hubs, access products (connection for remote access), web scaling products and technologies, security products, InterWorks for SNA, IOS software and network management has slowly become a part of Cisco Systems product portfolio. This expansion of portfolio was made possible through the several acquisitions and partnerships. By 1998, Cisco managed to hold either number one or number two position in 14 of the 15 markets in which it competed. This has made Cisco the top choice among large companies to buy company’s line of products and services. This situation may also reflect from the strong financial growth of Cisco. From 1994 until 1998 Cisco’s total assets sky-rocketed from $1.1 billion to $8.9 billion...
Words: 2099 - Pages: 9
...resistance to reform. Second, CISCO Systems, Inc. retained a centralized management of the functional organization structure to ensure a stable organizational basis for promoting a significant innovation. Third, a powerful elites team. The project team composed of excellent IT elites, and organization motivated them efficiently in order to make them respond to the challenges actively. Fourth, Strong sense of responsibility and strong support came from the partners. CISCO chose the larger and stronger companies to be the partners in order to reach the win-win situation. CISCO chose KPMG as the integrated partner was based on the company's experience talents who have excellent professional knowledge and rich experience. As Cisco’s ERP software vendors, Oracle Corporation has stronger production capacity than other vendors, it has the ability to meet the standard of Cisco’s implementation of ERP project; at the same time, Oracle made a commitment about the long-term development of software package function. Fifth, the company’s advanced management idea and efficient operation pattern. The team's implementation strategy employed a development technique referred to as "rapid iterative prototyping." 2) What were the most important things that Cisco managers did right? What did they do wrong? The most important things that Cisco managers did right were: First, they made the right decision that exchanged Unix systems for ERP systems in order to meet the demand of business...
Words: 624 - Pages: 3
...Problem definition Cisco Systems Inc. is one of the leading companies operating in the telecommunication industry. At the present moment, the company has a strong position in the world market and actively develops its business targeting at the wider implementation of new technologies. In fact, the company was traditionally oriented on the introduction of innovations and nowadays it is still focused on the development of new technologies which can improve the position of the company in the market and guarantee its leadership in the future. In such a situation, Cisco Systems Inc. develops its corporate strategy, which basically targets at the acquisition of smaller companies which a great potential and have developments which could be very perspective in the future. One of such companies is Summa Four, which Cisco Systems Inc. wants to acquire. In this respect, it should be said that the acquisition of the new company will inevitably pose certain difficulties Cisco Systems Inc. will have to overcome. Even though the company has a huge experience of acquisitions, since the company has launched the strategy of acquisition since the early 1990s, the acquisition of Summa Four is different from the acquisition of any other company Cisco Systems has ever bided for before. To put it more precisely, as a rule Cisco Systems Inc. acquired companies which were small and did not possess significant manufacturing facilities. Basically, such acquisitions were rather investment in the human...
Words: 1421 - Pages: 6
...Business Case for Cloud Collaboration Case Studies and Testimonials Some organizations prefer to host their IT systems in their own data center. But on-premises communications solutions are not for everyone, and many organizations are shifting to a secure hosted collaboration solution in order to: • Increase agility to quickly scale up or down • Extend collaboration applications to anyone, anywhere • Free up IT resources to focus on core business • Reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) • Replace an aging voice or video communications system The cloud can reduce complexity for users who just want to get their jobs done and enable new levels of collaboration. This brochure shares the experiences of actual customers who replaced their on-premises communications system with a secure Cisco Powered cloud service based on Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS). © 2013 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Table of Contents Increased Agility to Scale Up and Down.........................................................................................3 Global Document Management Company Sets Up Contact Center in Two Weeks...............................3 Life Insurance Company Adds New Locations Without Increasing IT Staff............................................4 Testimonial: Scotts LawnService Scales Contact Center Agents for the Season.................................5 Extend Collaboration Applications to Anyone, Anywhere, Using Any Device .........................
Words: 3680 - Pages: 15
...Cisco IT Case Study Organizational Change and Advanced Services for Operational Success How Cisco IT Implemented Organizational Change and Advanced Services for Operational Success New organizational framework greatly improves operations. Given today’s pressing need to optimize IT services and resources while reducing costs and improving organizationwide productivity, the Cisco lifecycle methodology offers the framework needed to make operations more efficient and responsive. Cisco IT Network and Data Center Services (NDCS) changed from using a traditional organizational model to Cisco’s own lifecycle model, with substantial operations improvements across five different metrics. This case study describes Cisco IT’s internal infrastructure, a leading-edge enterprise IT environment that is among the largest and most complex in the world. “By moving from a traditional technology, silo-based organizational structure to a lifecycle-based model, we were able to improve our operational metrics considerably. Our number of cases decreased by approximately 60 percent, and our time-to-repair to get clients back up and running has decreased by almost 70 percent.” John Manville, Vice President, IT Network and Data Center Services, Cisco BACKGROUND An enterprise with 300 locations in 90 countries, Cisco has 46 data centers and server rooms supporting the 65,000-plus employees. Fourteen of the data centers/server rooms are production or customer-facing and 32 are used for product...
Words: 3737 - Pages: 15
...to End-To-End Communication An Analysis of Cisco Systems and how the use of Information Technology gave them a Competitive Advantage Mira Vissell ISM 158 Business Analysis Paper March 4th, 2004 Table of Contents Objective Section I: Industry Summary: An Analysis of Network Equipment Industry A. Industry Profile B. Competitive Strategies within the Industry C. Porter Model Evaluation of Industry Forces D. Globalization of the Industry E. Importance of Information Technology in the Industry Section II: Company Perspective: An Analysis of Cisco Systems A. Cisco Systems profile B. Market and Financial Performance C. Competitive Strategy Statement D. Significance of Information and Information Systems E. Strengths and Weaknesses of Cisco Section III: Structured Analysis of Information System Use A. Strategic Option Generator B. Roles, Roles and Relationships C. Redefine/define D. Significance of Telecommunications E. Success Factor Profile Section IV: A Final Analysis of the Success of Cisco Systems A. The Success of Business Strategy and IT used to Date B. The Effective Position of the Company for Future Performance Bibliography Objective The objective of this paper is to analyze how Cisco Systems gained competitive advantage in the networking industry through the use of information systems and key business strategies. This paper has four...
Words: 9306 - Pages: 38
...WHITE PAPER BIDIRECTIONAL FORWARDING DETECTION FOR OSPF Fast Failure Detection to Speed Network Convergence OVERVIEW In both Enterprise and Service Provider networks, the convergence of business-critical applications onto a common IP infrastructure is becoming more common. Given the criticality of the data, these networks are typically constructed with a high degree of redundancy. While such redundancy is desirable, its effectiveness is dependant upon the ability of individual network devices to quickly detect failures and reroute traffic to an alternate path. This detection is now typically accomplished via hardware detection mechanisms. However, the signals from these mechanisms are not always conveyed directly to the upper protocol layers. When the hardware mechanisms do not exist (eg: Ethernet) or when the signaling does not reach the upper protocol layers, the protocols must rely on their much slower strategies to detect failures. The detection times in existing protocols are typically greater than one second, and sometimes much longer. For some applications, this is too long to be useful. Bi-directional Forwarding Detection (BFD) provides rapid failure detection times between forwarding engines, while maintaining low overhead. It also provides a single, standardized method of link/device/protocol failure detection at any protocol layer and over any media. THE PROBLEM WITH CONVERGENCE The process of network convergence can be broken up into a set of discreet events*:...
Words: 6315 - Pages: 26
...Cover Sheet Capstone Proposal Project Name: Upgrading ABC Inc. Internet Edge Student Name: Michael Wakefield Degree Program: Bachelor of Science IT-Security Mentor Name: Signature Block Student’s Signature Mentor’s Signature Table of Contents Capstone Proposal Summary 1 Review of Other Work 8 Rationale and Systems Analysis 16 Goals and Objectives 22 Project Deliverables 26 Project Plan and Timelines 27 References 28 Appendix 1: Competency Matrix 4 Capstone Proposal Summary Internet of Everything (IoE) and “Big Data” equates to competitive advantages to the modern business landscape. Numerous white papers are circulating on the Internet highlighting the business case supporting the IoE initiative. For instance, in a white paper conducted by Cisco Inc. on the Value Index of IoE in 2013 reported the following: In February 2013, Cisco released a study predicting that $14.4 trillion of value (net profit) will be at stake globally over the next decade, driven by connecting the unconnected –people-to-people (P2P), machine-to-people (M2P), and machine-to-machine (M2M) - via the Internet of Everything (IoE). Cisco defines the Internet of Everything as the networked connection of people, process, data, and things. The IoE creates new “capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries” (The Internet of Everything, Cisco, Inc. 2014). With such a lofty goal looming, and the monetary...
Words: 5523 - Pages: 23
...Company Report Cisco Systems, Inc. Executive summary This is a description of Cisco System, Inc because it is listed as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”. The company has also increased its ranking from 90 to 42 in 2013. This has made it a respected company in the world due to its customer relations and it has been able to hold the market competitively. The owners, Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, grew the business get it from an office connection service into the business world connecting many institutions and government organizations. Therefore, it is a good example with a rich product line, and a good understanding of its success is helpful. Cisco Company Cisco is one of the best companies all over the world with the best services and Corporate Social Responsibilities programs offered to its employees and the community. This has improved its reputation and success because it attracts many customers, due to the many products it offers. This report discusses the company and its successful products as well as the employees and their working environment. Company overview Cisco is a multinational corporation involved in designing, developing and selling many different types of networking equipment. It is an American company started in 1984 with its headquarters in San Jose, California. It has many qualified employees amounting to 64,000 who work around the world producing quality products. It has more than fifteen products and competes with more...
Words: 932 - Pages: 4
...Cisco Case Study 1. Observable artifacts are the manifestations of an organization’s culture that employees can easily see or talk about. They supply the signals that employees interpret to gauge how they should act during the workday. An example of observable artifacts of Cisco’s culture is their use of cross-functional teams, councils and boards to enhance innovation and teamwork which lead to faster decision-making. CEO John Chambers uses three words to describe the benefits of this team oriented management system: “speed, skill, and flexibility.” Espoused values of Cisco are a dedication to customer success, innovation and learning, partnerships, collaboration, and doing more with less. Each of these values is continually articulated and reinforced in the mission statement, policies and practices, and culture of the company. Basic assumptions are the taken for granted beliefs and thoughts, and represent the core of organizational culture. being involved in numerous groups makes the company as a whole grow faster and be better ready for the economy. 2. After losing billions of dollars, CEO Chambers changed Cisco from a top-down organization to one that encourages collaboration and teamwork at all levels. Chambers grouped executives into cross-functional teams by combining managers in sales with leaders in engineering hoping that this would lead to faster decision-making. The hierarchical element needed to change in order to right the wrongs and move forward as company...
Words: 1167 - Pages: 5
...isco Systems: The Supply Chain Story Cisco Systems Inc. is a worldwide computer networking company based out of San Jose, California. From Cisco’s beginning they as a company aimed to connect all members of the supply chain. Cisco’s initial product was the router, which contained an operating software called Internet Operating System (IOS). This product launched Cisco as a company and led to their future goal of a completely integrated supply chain. The first integration, a customer support site, came a year after the router was launched and it allowed customers to download and upgrade software as well as technical support through e-mail. This support center continued to grow through the early nineties and was eventually replaced by a customer support system on their website. The customer support system was continually added to and by 1995 it included; company and product information, technical and customer support, and most importantly it introduced the ability to sell products and services online. Cisco’s main desire behind this system was to streamline the process of customer support and allow the information to more easily utilized. In 1996, Cisco implemented another Internet application called “Networked Strategy,” this introduced online order entry and allowed the information to flow through Cisco’s supply chain. The order information was sent to Cisco’s ERP system which in turn sent it out to the various suppliers and manufacturers, allowing for a very...
Words: 277 - Pages: 2
