Routing the Path

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 sections that help in this analysis. The first section looks at the
network equipment industry profile and examines the different competitive strategies
within this industry. The porter model can be a way of examining the industry forces. It
also looks at how companies in the industry are often forced to go global and how
information systems have a huge impact of the competitive advantage of companies in
the industry.
Section two deals with the company, Cisco, and takes a look at the profile of the company
as well as key business leaders. The market and financial analysis shows how Cisco is
doing relative to previous years and the importance of information technology shows how
Cisco has gained a competitive advantage over competitors. The strengths and
weaknesses of Cisco are also examined to help understand Ciscos standing.
The third section takes a deeper look into how information technology has helped Cisco
and the fourth section is a final analysis of the success of Cisco and how IT has helped
them gain a competitive advantage.
The fourth section is a final summary of how Cisco is positioned.

Section I: Industry Summary: An Analysis of Network

Equipment Industry
A. Industry Profile
The network equipment industry is made up of companies providing networking
equipment to ISP servers, large corporations and other businesses or small offices.
Companies that compete in this industry are companies that focus on network equipment
parts such as routers and switches as their main source of revenue. Cisco is the primary
company for routers and has a large market share in such services as switches, cables and
network software. Other products they offer are remote access servers,
Internet Protocol telephony equipment for transmitting data and voice
over the same network, optical networking components, and network
service and security systems. They are trying to enter into the
telecommunications market, however they are still struggling for recognition. It is still
safe to say they are of the network equipment industry. The main competitors in the
networking equipment market are Cisco, Nortel, Lucent and Juniper.

Net Income ($ million)

Company
Cisco1
Nortel2
Lucent3
Juniper4

1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
1,350.10 2,096.00 2,668.00 -1,014.00 1,893.00
-593
-257 -2,995.00 -24,307.00 -3,585.00
970 4,766.00 1,219.00 -16,198.00 -11,753.00
-30.9
-9
147.9
-13.4
-119.7
Figure 1.1

2003
3578
N/a
-770
N/a

Nortel Networks is a huge competitive force in the network equipment

industry. With its acquisition of Bay Network Nortel in 1998 they now
have expertise in both voice and data network arena. Nortel competes
because they are able to provide their customers with a one-stop shop
for data networks.5
Lucent is also a big part of the network equipment industry. Lucent is the current
leader in fiber-optic technology, which is quickly becoming a crucial
part of the network. Lucent was made in Bell Labs, which alone gives it
a great advantage over its rivals.6
Juniper competes on a more specific area of network equipment. It
sells Internet Protocol routers for private and public access networks.
Juniper also designs the application-specific chips that control its
routers. This chip allows them to have high quality networks that can
compete against the giants. In this way they are able to compete in the
network equipment industry.7
Other competitors that compete in this market are smaller start-up
companies with key niche products. These companies are often only
around a little bit before the bigger giants acquire them. There are an
increasing number of global companies that are now entering into the
network equipment market. An analysis of this will be presented later
on under the porter competitive model.
The increasing growth of the Internet in the nineties has increased the
demand for network equipment and greatly expanded the market.
However many of the customers went bankrupt or over estimated the
needs of their IT capacities as the Internet hype died down. Thus
competition has gotten even fiercer and companies must look to new
technology as a way of drawing in customers.
1

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Cisco Systems

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Nortel Technologies
3
Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Lucent Technologies
4
Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Juniper Technologies
5
www.nortel.com
6
www.lucent.com
7
www.juniper.net
2

B. Competitive Strategies within the Industry

There are many factors that influence the strategy in the network
equipment industry that can be described using the business strategy
model. The business strategy model breaks down some of the
strategies and business processes the companies within the Industry.
The six strategies in the model are product, customer, market, manufacturing,
sales, company, and information systems.
The following business strategy model shows what factors are under each strategy
category for each component for the network equipment industry.

Business Strategy Model

Network Equipment Industry
Router

Switches

Large Corporations

North America

Vertically Integrated

Product Strategy
Network Software
Cable Product

Services

Customer Strategy
Public Institutions
Small/med Businesses
Market Strategy
Asia
Europe
Manufacturing Strategy
Vendor Emphasis

Personal

South America

Outsource

Distributors

Sales Strategy
Internet

Sales Representatives

Independent

Company Strategy
Alliance

Joint Vendors

Engineering
System

Information Systems Strategy

Business
Customer
Manufacturing
Sales
System
Service
System
System

Marketing

Figure 1.2

Differentiation
The network equipment industry follows the strategies of differentiation to deal with
competition. Companies such as Cisco and Lucent compete within the
industry by offering the most advanced and reliable network
equipment to its customers. Cost of the equipment is often not as
important to the customers of this industry because businesses need

6
this network equipment to run their business. Companies therefore
offer a wide range of products and different product packages as a way
of competing.
Companies such as Cisco rely heavily on brand recognition to compete
in the network industry. Cisco is very aggressive in their Are you
Ready? advertising campaign to make the public aware that most of
the Internet and many of devices are build on products from Cisco. This
helps companies be able to compete and stay strong in the industry.
Innovation
Differentiation strategies can only be successful if they have convenience, cost
saving, and reliability. Companies have to be able to spot the newest trends and
desires and create the products. Therefore innovation is very important for companies in
the industry. They have to be able to stay on top of new technology and thus stay on top
of their competitors. In 1996 Cisco launched Cisco Connection Online
Website to help customers in learning about new Cisco products, ask
and answer questions and provide a forum to provide customers with
easier technical support. Customers were satisfied and this boosted
Ciscos sales by 70 percent.8
Growth
Growth in the industry is another important factor for competitive advantage. Companies
have to be ready to expand and grow in order to compete. One of the ways the companies
such as Cisco have been able to grow is through acquiring new companies that have the
new technology that is needed. Instead of developing technologies in house
most companies find that it is often faster to just buy the technology.
Acquisitions and the ability to quickly integrate the newly acquired
companies is key.
Alliance
Forming alliances with other companies has always been important for the industry.
These alliances can allow that technologies be combined to use as one. Lucent has
formed alliance with Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, and Strategy.com to
allow network operators to offer mobile Internet applications on such
things as personal digital assistants and cell phones. Cisco also formed
alliances to provide better products and services. They formed an
alliance with IBM to offer customers open storage networking solutions
for data intensive computing. Much of their alliances are done in the
form of outsourcing as well. They gain competitive advantage by
outsourcing.
Summary of Business Strategy Model
The business strategy model looks at the categories of strategies for
the network equipment industry. The products and customers are
8

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 121

7
defined to show who and what they are competing for. The market is
the where portion, or what places they will focus mostly in.
Manufacturing and sales evaluates how they are going to maintain
competitiveness. The company strategy explores what exact industry
they are in. Information systems strategy talks about each service or
system that the company will focus on.

C. Porter Model Evaluation of Industry Forces

Porter Competitive Model
Network Equipment Industry (US Market)
Potential New
Entrants

Bargaining
Power of
Suppliers
Component Manufactures
Outsource Manufactures
IT vendors

Global Competition
Changing domestic Companies
Start-ups

Intra-Industry Rivalry
SBU: Cisco
Rivals: Nortel, Juniper, Lucent,
Enterasys, Avici, 3Com, Extreme
other small start-up Companies

Substitute
Products and
Services

Bargaining
Power or
Buyers
ISP service providers
Large Corporations
Small Medium business
Education
Home office (personal)

Wireless, Voice over IP,

Outsourcing, Used Equipment,
Telephone and snail mail
Figure 1.3

Intra-Industry Rivalry
The intra-industry rivalry consists of all the companies and organizations that provide
network equipment and software to businesses. The companies can range from smaller to
giant companies. Smaller companies provide one form of network equipment that may be
top of the line but they usually lack the capital to expand their line. Therefore the bigger
companies easily acquire them. The bigger companies such as Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent
compete with each other by selling whole packages to their customers.

8
Bargaining Power of Buyers
The bargaining power of buyers consists of the buyers with the most volume. Such
companies like large ISP companies such as AOL, Earthlink, AT&T, and Qwest,
have a huge power over the industry. They can decide what vendor to use and can singlehandedly make or break a company. Large corporations, government and
education institutions also buy large volumes of products and services.
Businesses have to be ready to compete and have the best strategies for getting the buyers
of the most volume.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Companies that are the most unique in the market control the bargaining power of
suppliers. Such companies like IT vendors and component manufactures make up the
majority of this section. Cisco focuses on its core abilities, such as marketing, design,
strategy, and customer service, and hires other companies to build their equipment.9 Cisco
buys most of its parts from specialized manufacturers and so they hold a great deal of
power over them. They can choose which manufacturer for each element of their
hardware parts. Cisco and other companies often outsource their products
to manufacturers such as Solectron and Flextronics to cut cost and
since they represent a large percentage of the manufacturers business
Cisco and other companies have a great deal of power.
New Entrants
The new entrants to the network equipment industry include global competition as well
as local companies. The global competition comes from companies oversees entering into
the market as start-ups or even gaining power and then entering market. Global
competitors such as Huawei from China may pose a serious threat to
Cisco in the future when they cut into Cisco's profit margins for such
things as switches and routers. Huaweis strategy is to undercut Cisco's
prices by as much as 50 percent. Currently switches and routers
account for 80 percent of Cisco's sales and profits.
New entrants can also include domestic companies that already have a large market value
to change their business strategies and cut into networking. Companies such as IBM
already have the money and talent to enter the industry and they can
decide that funding startups are more cost effective. Start-ups can
have an advantage too because unlike their large established
competitors they do no have to worry about dealing with old products.
They can set all their capabilities and resources to accomplish one
goal.
Substitute Products and Services
Substitute products and services include anything or any company that could be an
alternative to networking products. Such things like wireless access that would bypass the
need to have a network. Cisco itself has touched a little bit into the voice over IP market,
but hasnt particularly received recognition. This feature to the Internet could be a major
9

Bridging Technology: Cisco Systems http://gcconline.georgian.edu/business_review/cisco.htm

9
substitute to routers and switches that Cisco and other networking companies mainly deal
with.
Used equipment can also be a major competitor. When the dot-com bust
happened many network providers who were left with billions of dollars
in debt started to sell off some of their gear to pay back creditors. A lot
of the gear was networking equipment and was still in its original
packaging. The companies were so eager to sell that they would sell
their brand new equipment 20 to 25 cents on the dollar.
Such things as the telephone and snail mail hold a small amount of
competition simply because it is a way that people can communicate
without the use of networks. They can be seen as drawing away
customers.

Conclusions for Porter Model

Through analysis of the porter competitive model it is clear that many factors influence
businesses in the network equipment industry. The model shows the main competitors in
the industry and the power that the buyers and suppliers hold. The buyers with the most
volume hold the biggest amount of power while the suppliers that are the most unique in
what they sell are able to be the most successful.
The model also shows how competitors and new entrants can be a challenge for existing
businesses. New entrants such as global competition and domestic companies changing
their business plans can greatly compete with existing companies. Foreign
competitors are always ready to undercut the current leaders and offer
new products. Start-ups can pose problems for the larger corporations because they
can focus on one product line and often get better results than existing companies. These
companies are considered new entrants to the industry. By using the porter competitive
model businesses can see what challenges they face in the industry.

D. Globalization of the Industry

We live in a global economy. This is especially becoming true in the case of networking
and becoming connected to people all over the world. The network equipment industry
has had to deal with this need for globalization and has had to be able to go overseas.
There is a huge demand overseas that is pulling the network equipment industry to
expand. Luckily not too much money needs to be spent on creating new products to
compete globally. Network equipment has the advantage of being able to easily adapt to
fit the new languages.
Some of the benefits of going global include increased revenues, profits, and market
share. For many large multinational companies, more than a third of their revenues are
derived from outside their home country. 40% of Ciscos sales come from areas outside
of America. Cisco Systems has sales and support offices in more than 60 countries.

10
Also Lucent has offices and distributors in more than 65 countries and
derives 34% of their total sale from areas outside of America.
With this growing need to go global, companies in the network equipment industry have
had to deal with these adoptions and make it a goal to branch out and provide equipment
overseas.

E. Importance of Information Technology in the Industry

Information Technology is very important for the network equipment industry. Being able
to compete globally and in different regions all rely heavily on the use of being able to be
accessible to the general public. Businesses must be on the Internet and have a good use
of information technology in order to succeed. Cisco has benefited from the use of
information technology in the form of Cisco Connection Online (CCO). CCO
uses IT to offer online customer services such as product support and
sales.
Companies must also deal with keeping their employees as connected
and up to date within the company. Cisco has an ERP system that is
extremely efficient. They are able to keep their employees involved
through use of extensive networks and the best technology. IT has
speed up the way businesses communicate and helped with the
globalization of this network equipment industry.

Section II: Company Perspective: An Analysis of Cisco Systems

A. Cisco Systems profile
Background
Cisco, the networking giant, is thought of among the elite as one of the most successful
companies to emerge from Silicon Valley in many years. It all started in the late 1970s
with Sandra Lerner of the Stanford University Business School and Leonard Bosack of
the computer science department. Being in different departments, they were unable to
write emails to each other because of the different networks that where being used. They
then invented the router and in 1984 developed what is now Cisco Systems.
They did not conceive the router all on their own however. In 1981, Xerox Palo Alto
Research Center gave some of its Alto Workstations and Ethernet
network boards to Stanford. The Ethernet technology inspired the staff
members and graduate students to develop the technology to link the
computer systems on campus so they could talk to each other. They
began developing some of the first local-area networks (LAN). They
had everything in the form of a small box that functioned as a multiprotocol router.

11
A medical student, Bill Yeager, was assigned to design the router. He
was able to connect the computer science department with the
medical department. He was the one who designed the boxes
operating system. Len Bosack and Andy Bechtolsheim along with other
graduate students and staff members designed the boxes computer
board.
With the router beginning to gain fame, colleges and universities
wanted to purchase them. Stanford University was getting tired of the
crew using their resources and equipment to make boxes so they told
them they would no longer fund the operations. Lerner and Bosack
along with a few other students took their operations off campus to
their house. They were working full time at this point to write code and
assemble boxes.
As the demand for routers went up, and it did at a very rapid pace, the
small crew found that they were working longer and longer hours. The
commercialization of the Internet in 1987 drew in a plethora of
customers. Cisco found that they never had to advertise; instead,
customers were coming to their doorstep wanting the new technology.
The staff at Cisco soon realized that they needed outside help to
dealing with their growing success.
In 1987 Cisco received its first and only Venture Capitalist funding from
Donald Valentine of Sequoia Capital. Sequoia systems agreed to front
$2.5 million dollars for a 32% share in the company. He soon hired John
Morgridge as the president and CEO. Sales quickly jumped from $1.5
million in 1987 to $28 million in 1989 and the company went public in
1990. Lerner was in charge of customer services and Bosack was chief
scientist. Lerner was upset that she didnt get to be CEO and soon
arguments broke out that led to her getting fired.
Cisco began seeing more and more competition. Their way of dealing
with this growing competition was acquisitions included network
company Crescendo Communication and ATM product maker
StrataCom. In 1995 John Chambers succeeded Morgridge as president
and CEO while Morgridge become the chairman. By 1998 Ciscos
market capitalization passed $100 billion and they were thought to be
the top spot in the market-cap race among Silicon Valley companies.
They were synonymous for the Internet and contained 85% of the
market for routers. This amazing company was not immune to the
economic slump following the dot-com bust in 2000.
Today Cisco considers itself to be in the end to end communication
business. Cisco products power a majority of the Internet and many
use its products businesses all over the world.

12

Business Leaders
John P. Morgridge: Chairman former CEO
John P. Morgridge was the first CEO of Cisco Systems. Valentine selected him to be CEO
because he was an industry veteran, a proven leader, a fiscal conservative, and a grownup leader. Morgridge had an MBA from Stanford and from University of
Wisconsin. Cisco never had a 5-year plan in the Morgridge years. At
Cisco we build a one-year plan with 80 to 90 percent assurance well
meet or exceed our goals, said Morgridge. 9
Under Morgridge, Cisco went from $5 million in sales to over $1 billion
and from 34 employees to over 2,260 employees. It was under
Morgridge that Cisco went public in 1990 and in 1995 he was
appointed Chairman. John Chambers became CEO through mutual
consensus because Morgridge felt it was time to move on. He is
currently still the chairman for Cisco and focuses on educational
aspects of Cisco.
John Chambers: President and CEO
John Chambers came to Cisco when Morgridge was still CEO. In 1991,
he became senior vice president of worldwide operations and
Morgridges right-hand man. In 1994 he became Vice president and the
following year became CEO as Morgridge stated that he was too old to
be CEO.
He worked at IBM, which taught him to sell at multiple levels within an
organization, something of which would help him at Cisco10. He also
worked at Wang Laboratories where he had to be part of 5 layoffs. The
layoffs deeply affected him and he promised to do almost anything to
avoid another such catastrophe. His promise could be kept until the
economy crashed and Cisco began falling in profits.
John Chambers has helped with three unique aspects of Cisco: Its successful acquisition
record, its highly developed use of Information Technologies, and unusually tight-knit
culture.11 Chambers defines his role in these terms: to develop and
empower a world-class leadership team, and to act as spokesperson
for the company and the Internet economy.
Pete Solvik: Former CIO
Pete Solvik was the Senior Vice President and CIO of Cisco. He was at Cisco from 1993
till July 2001 during which he was instrumental in driving the company's worldwide use
of information technology. He was the one who helped create Cisco Connection Online
(CCO) which has been recognized for more than 40 Industry top website awards over the
9
10

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 23

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 48

11

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 44

13
past five years. Most recently, Internet Week named Cisco as the #1 technology company
using the Internet to run its business.
Don Valentine: Venture Capitalist
Don Valentine was the first and only venture capitalist that Cisco Systems received.
Through his help, Cisco was able to become a competitive corporation with growth and
proper management. Valentine helped pick Morgridge as the CEO and helped set up
different sectors of management. He was the chairman from 1986 to 1995 when
Morgridge succeeded him. Through Valentines help, Cisco was able to get the
management they needed at a time that was most dire. Valentine helped Cisco go public.
Brad Boston: CIO Since 2001
Brad Boston is the CIO of Cisco. Under his leadership, Cisco's new web site, Cisco.com
was launched in September 2002. Cisco.com delivers a customer-focused, easy-to-use,
highly integrated application for doing business with Cisco. Focused on improving
the company's productivity, speed and agility, Boston is driving Cisco's
IT foundation strategy to enable end-to-end business processes and IT
efficiencies throughout the organization.

B. Market and Financial Performance

Cisco has had to deal with a roller coaster ride with profits and sales as the economy has
gone from great to horrible to slightly better again. They have had to deal with stock
prices dropping to over abundance of inventory and loss of net income. However as a
company, they have grown a huge amount since the time of becoming public.
Cisco's revenue grew tremendously during the past few year years,
going from $6.4 billion in fiscal year 1997 to $22.3 billion in fiscal year
2001. 12 They have since gone back under 20 billion, but are still doing very well.
Cisco had a revenue per employee of $525,417 in 2003 and a profit per employee of
$52,583. By this data it is clear that they are doing well as far as their employee numbers
in ratio to their sales and profit.
Net service revenue in fiscal 2002 increased by $512 million or 18.7% from $2.7 billion
in fiscal 2001 to $3.2 billion.

12

www.cisco.com annual report

14

Sales ($ millions)
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2002

2003

Figure 2.113
Net Income ($ millions)
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
-1000

1998

1999

2000

2001

-2000

Figure 2.214

Routers and Switches are still the main products, accounting for about
80% as of Ciscos business. However Cisco may not be able to
command high prices much longer because many smaller competitors
are starting to offer products with similar offering as Ciscos own
equipment at much lower price. It is very important for Cisco to expand
its source of income to continue its growth.

C. Competitive Strategy Statement

When John Chambers decided to decentralize Cisco he created the following business
plan:
1. Assemble a broad product line to make Cisco a one-stop shop for network
providers.
2. Systematize the art of acquisition.
3. Define the industry wide networking software protocols.
13

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Cisco Systems

14

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Cisco Systems

15
4. Pick the right strategic partners.15
With the competitive strategy of having a broad product line, it is important to keep on
top of the technology that is emerging. Cisco has always tried to keep track of the new
products that its customers needed and then buy the leading company in each product
category. To be able to keep the steady rate of acquisitions flowing in, Cisco had to keep
its stock high by ensuring that Wall Street viewed them as the backbone for the Internet.
To this day they still are synonymous for the Internet and hold 80% of the market for
routers.
By picking the right strategic partners to help position them in the competitive market
and by acquiring start-up companies, Cisco has been able to maintain a competitive
advantage over others.

D. Significance of Information and Information Systems

Information Technology and Systems have played a crucial part for Cisco and the way
the company runs its business. In the beginning Cisco didnt have a good Information
System and felt the lag that was happening.
In 1993, Cisco acquired Crescendo and needed to integrate
Crescendos system with its own network. Pete Solvik, CIO at that time,
stepped up to tackle the problem. It turned out to be a bigger problem
that he had thought, one that would cost about $15 million dollars and
take about 16 months to finish. However with the support of the
chairmen and CEO, he was able to tackle the project of replacing the
old system with a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
made by Oracle. This ERP system would lead the company to be the
envy of Fortune 500 companies. If Cisco hadnt have undergone this
extensive project to make the ERP system, they would never have
been able to handle the growth that was to come in the future.
With the use of this ERP System, they were able to make Cisco
Connection Online (CCO), which now accounts for 82% of Ciscos sales.
Through the use of their new ERP System, Cisco was able to grow as a
company, lower costs, reduce errors in the system, and respond more
quickly to customers needs. IT has helped Cisco to gain a major
completive advantage in the marketplace.

E. Strengths and Weaknesses of Cisco

Strengths
Strong Leadership
John Chambers does an excellent job of keeping the company up and going. He is
charismatic and spends lots of time making sure his customers are satisfied. There are 17
vice presidents that directly report to him and 50 more vice presidents that
15

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 62

16
are only one level away from him. In this way he is able to hear many
different opinions about what is going on at different levels. Many of
these vice presidents are ex-CEOs from companies that have been
acquired by Cisco. This leads to a large amount of technology savvy
people.
Brand Strength
Cisco has a huge advantage over other companies in that they have such a well-known
brand. Cisco is frequently thought to be synonymous for the Internet. They have
established themselves as being the standard for networking products. Through
advertisements that push the Internet as being made up of Cisco, they have been able to
gain a competitive advantage.
Employee Environment
Its no wonder that Cisco was voted number 28 out of the best 100 places to work.
Individual empowerment, access to information, and increased
productivity are an integral part of the culture that Cisco advocates.
Employees are able to have meetings and make appointments with
higher-level management if they so desire to voice opinions. There are
little complaints that can be found on the site of Cisco. The employees
are happy and excited about their work and this transfers into the
customer environment as well. For example, engineers at Cisco are
required to spend time with customers regardless of what their areas
of research and development are.
Weaknesses
Acquisitions where leadership left
One of Ciscos key competitive tactics is to acquire companies that have some sort of
market advantage to Cisco. Through acquiring them, Cisco is able to sidestep the
Research and Design phase of producing new products. They use the information brought
to them by the new company. According to John Chambers, if Cisco lacked the internal
resources to develop new products in six months, it had to buy its way into the market or
miss the window of opportunity. This can be seen as a strength and a weakness. The
weakness comes when the valuable employees of the acquisition simply leave after the
deal is made, leaving Cisco with little or nothing to work with.
In the case of Monterey Networks Inc., Cisco had to take a $108 million write-off simply
because all three of Montereys founders walked out after the deal was made. The chief
executive of GeoTel Communications Corp. walked out after nine months. There are
many more cases of the top executives and engineers walking out after the deal was done.
This has hurt Cisco a great deal in that they often have to sack the company when the top
people leave.

17

Section III: Structured Analysis of Information

System Use
The following section will focus on analyzing the use of information
systems at Cisco as a way of gaining a competitive advantage. It will
go about this by examining the strategic options that Cisco must face,
the roles and relationships at Cisco, how Cisco redefined and defines
itself, the significance of telecommunications, as well as the success
factors at Cisco. It will also concentrate on the business strategies that
have made Cisco Systems a major player in the Network Equipment
industry.

A. Strategic Option Generator

The strategic option generator identifies strategic opportunities

involving the use of information systems to gain a competitive
advantage. The following model represents the strategy options that
Cisco holds.

Strategic Option Generator for Cisco

Target
Customer

Supplier
Differentiation

Cost

Thrust
Innovation

Competitor
Growth

Mode
Offensive

Defensive
Direction

Use

Provide
Execution

Strategic Advantage
Fig 3.1
Target

Alliance

18
The strategic target in the case of Cisco is customer. Commitment to customer
has always been, and continues to be part of Ciscos core culture. CEO
John Chambers has always held a strong belief that in order for a
company to survive, it must listen to its customers.
Thrust
Ciscos primary business strategy is differentiation. Cisco succeeds
with this strategy by continuously providing value to customers by
offering a wide range of solutions in networking for customers. Ciscos
secondary strategies are growth, innovation, and alliances. Growth has
played a big role in what Cisco is able to do. By growing and acquiring
new companies, Cisco has been able to keep its stock relatively high
which in turn allows them to provide customers with the best
technology. One of Ciscos major innovations is the Cisco Connection
Online (CCO) Website. The CCO provides customers with easy access
to information about the company and products, as well as customer
support. Cisco formed alliances with other companies to provide
resources and talents that would be too difficult to acquire on its own.
Mode
Cisco has a very strong offensive mode strategy. Right from the
beginning they were leading the way for other companies in the
industry. Cisco seeks to dominate the market by always offering the
top of the line, newest and most improved products and services. By
doing this they are able to gain a competitive advantage and stay in
the offensive strategy.
Direction
Direction defines the users and the use of the information systems.
Cisco has a direction of use and provide strategies. Cisco internally
uses its information systems, such as the CEC (Cisco Employee
Connection) to help reduce time on many administrative tasks.
Employees with Cisco can access their company information as well as
personal information. The CEC breaks down the barrier in
communication. In this case the users are within the boundaries. Cisco
also extends out of the boundaries through means of the CCO. The
CCO allows for quick flow of information between the partners,
suppliers and customers. Important data about products and services
is posted on this site and made available for all to see. Through these
services Cisco is able to provide its users with cost-saving, easy to use
information systems that give it a competitive advantage in the
industry.

19

B. Roles, Roles and Relationships

In order for Cisco to be able to compete and maintain a competitive
advantage, the top executives have had to look to information
systems. For Cisco to be able to continuously use information systems
to compete, it was essential that a relationship be developed between
senior management and the information systems organization.
When John Morgridge became the CEO of Cisco he understood that
only through the effort of management, organization, goals and
strategy could Cisco maintain its leadership position in the industry. In
1994 Cisco's legacy environment failed and the company was forced to
shutdown its entire operation for 48 hours. This shutdown cost Cisco
over 5 million in net sales for the year. During this time, Cisco had
separate IT systems for financial, manufacturing and sales. Top
Management did not recognize the IT department as a critical strategic
component of the business. The systems were disconnected from each
other and lacked the necessary flexibility and dependability to meet
overall business growth.
Around the time that John Chambers came to be the CEO, Peter Solvik,
who was CIO, realized that there needed to be a change. He decided it
was time to implement the enterprise resource planner (ERP) system
to replace all the different systems scattered across the company. He
knew that the IT department was too traditional because it was viewed
as a cost center that reported through the Finance department. He also
knew that the current system could not scale to support Cisco's growth
because the system was not flexible or robust enough to meet
management requirements. Solvik decided to change the IT-reporting
from Accounting to the Senior Vice President of Customer Advocacy. He
also made sure the IT budget was centralized so that groups within
Cisco could not make their own application decisions and investments.
The following model shows who reports to whom at Cisco.
CEO
Finance

Sales

Manufacturing

Marketing

CFO

EVP

EVP

EVP

Finance IS

Sales IS

Mfg IS

Marketing IS

CIO
Fig 3.2

20

Senior managers were actively involved in the ERP implementation

process. They were the ones who facilitated the close alignment of IT
and business strategy. They made sure that the project was given top
priority in the company. Carl Redfield, senior VP of Manufacturing,
helped by bringing other business units into the picture of the
implementation plan. John Chambers had a role also of fully backing
the implementation by making it a strategic goal for the company as a
whole. By making the IS people more involved, the company was able
to gain a well-established ERP system that would bring them great
competitive advantage. Senior management was smart enough in its
evaluation and implementation strategy.

C. Redefine/define
The redefine/define concept is important in understanding the approach in using
information systems to gain a competitive advantage. The following model shows the
value to customer analysis. It examines the delivery process to see if it adds value to a
customer, which in turn effects the buying decision.
Value to Customer Analysis:
Cisco Systems
Product / Service
Ordering

ERP System

Save Time
Cisco Connection
Online

Eliminate paper work

Expediate delivery

Manufacturing
Connection Online

Delivery
Process

Product /
Service

Value-Add Process

Manufacturing

What the Customer Wants

Value to customer
Fig 3.3

Cisco is positioned in an industry that is highly competitive. In order to

stay successful, companies must be able to adapt quickly to the
changing needs of the customers, as well as be able to share
information effectively. Cisco redefined its main system to be an
enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that would act as one
system for the entire company. To redefine its business processes

21
Cisco implemented Cisco Connection Online and Manufacturing
Connection Online.
In 1995, Cisco decided to implement its famous ERP system. At that
time it was still using separate systems for each department. Cisco
decided to implement the ERP system, which is now able to extend the
network to customers, suppliers and partners. With this network, Cisco
can distribute information easier. The system helps Cisco adapt to new
advancements in technology. The ERP system is able to have its
partners and suppliers act as part of the company.
It was through this system that Cisco was able to create Cisco
Connection Online (CCO). The CCO is safely the strongest link between
customers and Cisco. It all came to pass in 1996 when Solvik decided
to create the website. He employed developers, artists, technical
writers, and financial experts to revamp the entire site. Every
department that works with customers - market, public relations,
documentation, engineering, customer service, and tech support was
individually responsible for building and maintaining its respective
pages on the CCO. The day a product debuts, documentation, from
manuals to marketing info is put online. Customers can report
problems and submit queries. Bug alert feature posts info about
software problems within 24 hours after they are found. Customers can
reach bug navigator to find info on specific problems. Those looking to
purchase can search online databases of authorized Cisco equipment
resellers.16 Cisco formed partnerships with suppliers to enable rapid
exchange of information and its automated gathering of product data
information help to reduced delays in product development that
resulted from delays in the exchange of information.
The sales organization launched an e-sales portal in March 2001 to streamline the sales
process and boost productivity. The portal reduces the time needed to track bookings and
manage lead times and shipments. It also conveniently presents background information
salespeople need to best serve their customers -- for example, sales statistics, customerrelated alerts, pertinent news about customers and competitors.17
The CCO and ERP are vital to the company because it ties together
chip manufacturers, component distributors, electronic manufacturing
services, logistics partners, Cisco employees and customers into a
single information system. Together these groups act like part of a
single company because they are operating on a unified information
base.
Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 139
Putting the IT into productivity.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac114/ac173/ac205/about_cisco_packet_netizen09186a0080101
4f7.html
16
17

22

The CCO also offers customer support through online forums and web
queries. Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Web site is more cost-effective than
call centers with its self-service approach. The TAC currently offers about 5200
documents that address high-volume, low-complexity problems.17 Customers can
send their queries in or talk in the forum to other customers that may
have the solution to their problem. Over 80% of Ciscos customer
support is handled through the web resulting in significant cost
savings.
It was around the time that the CCO was becoming popular that Carl
Redfield, then senior vice president of manufacturing, decided that
Cisco needed to add more value by having less people touch the
product. He decided to outsource manufacturing. He also had a special
subset of CCO set up that is now called the manufacturing connection
online (MCO). Customers can look up the specs for routers, switches,
and other networking gear on the MCO. Many of the finished products
never even cross a Cisco buildings premises.18 Ciscos ability to supply
real-time supply and demand information to manufacturers and
suppliers enables them to replenish orders faster. This improvement
allows Cisco to considerably reduce inventory costs. Ciscos
information systems also have enabled manufacturers to ship orders
directly from the manufacturer to the customer without having to go
through Ciscos distribution centers. With direct links to its
manufacturers, Cisco can streamline procurement, eliminate paper
orders, save time, and expediate delivery.
Based on open and steady communication with customers, Cisco is not
only able to provide individual support, but also uses that information
to create products that meet the rapidly changing needs of its
customers. Cisco is able to keep up with the growing demand of its
products based on its comprehensive knowledgebase and the flexible
nature of its operations. It can be concluded that Cisco used information systems to
redefine a major business process.

D. Significance of Telecommunications
Telecommunications have played a big part in the success of Cisco. Cisco uses its
telecommunication infrastructure to enhance every aspect of its
business including interaction and information sharing between
employees, customers, suppliers and manufacturers. It does this by
having all of its internal applications in one unified web-enabled
interface. In this way, employees and vendors can share the same data
and tools.
1
18

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 147

23

The IT system at Cisco has become a critical part of their profitability

and success. Cisco has a vision and business strategy of being the
leading architect and provider of technologies for the new Internetbased infrastructure.19 They have made their internal information
systems to be directly related to their business strategy. They needed
to be on the cutting edge of technology to provide the newest and
most advance products to their customers. They are a networking
equipment company and so they had to make their internal system a
network. Thus, the ERP system and Internet based network at Cisco
has to be the most sophisticated in the industry to maintain its
competitive advantage. They are important because 90% of Ciscos
revenue is through online orders. The ease with which information is
exchanged electronically provides significant productivity gains in
order placement.
The Cisco Employee Connection (CEC) is their prime example of how
they have made their internal business a network. The CEC is a private
network contained within the business consisting of many interlinked
local-area networks. The main purpose is to share company
information and computing resources among employees. 20
In October 2000, Cisco embarked on an enterprise-wide deployment of IP telephony.
Within 12 months, 55 buildings and nearly 20,000 users at the San Jose campus were
converted to using the software. The total cost of network ownership dropped
immediately, a result of lower equipment and infrastructure cost and easier network
management. Productivity improved, because employees were able to avoid the time
drain of voice mail by bringing their IP phones with them and simply plugging them into
a spare jack. Cisco was able to benefit from savings when it relocated their employees.
What used to cost them $150 for a traditional phone now costs them zero for an IP phone.
IP-based workforce optimization applications help employees more efficiently perform
routine administrative tasks and manage human resource functions.21
Cisco has gone through a vast change from systems scattered all over
the company to a comprehensive Internet based information system.
The role of the current Internet-Based architecture is to allow the
company to stay in close contact to employees, clients and suppliers.
The ERP system has allowed Cisco to combine information from within
the company with information from people outside the company to
maximize efficiency and reduce costs dramatically. The successes of
Ciscos Information system continue to motivate the company to
Bridging Technology http://gcconline.georgian.edu/business_review/cisco.htm
Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 142
21
Putting the IT into productivity.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac114/ac173/ac205/about_cisco_packet_netizen09186a0080101
4f7.html
19
20

24
evolve their IT system to provide better value to their customers. The
success of the information systems has allowed the company to remain
a leader in the industry.

E. Success Factor Profile

There are many success factors that have affected the business
processes and Information Systems at Cisco. The following are the five
major success factors of Cisco:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Executive-IS Management Partnership

Information Systems Integral to the Business
Business Vision
Linkage to Customers
Culture

Executive-IS Management Partnership

Part of the reasons why Cisco is so successful is because the senior management was able
to stay in communication with the information systems manager. Peter Solvik made sure
that Morgridge and later on Chambers, knew how important IS was for the success of the
company. The IS management also know that business very well and was able to help
create MCO as well as CCO for every department at Cisco. In this way Cisco was able to
have success through having a strong partnership between executive management and IS
management.
Information Systems Integral to the Business
Cisco relies on its Information systems to do its day-to-day business.
The ERP system forms the basis for the company's web-centric and IPbased IS infrastructure. Its CEC adds value by creating a network of
employees and information. The CCO and MCO are what help bring
value to the customers by allowing them easily have access to all
information included reports of bugs. The MCO has helped Cisco by
sidestepping the manufacturing process to have the customers deal
directly with the manufacturers online. These systems have worked
together to become an integral part of Ciscos business.
Business Vision
Cisco has a vision that the Internet will transform the way people, work, live, play and
learn. Cisco feels strongly that the Internet and networked applications are the primary
way that organizations will create sustainable competitive advantage
in the future.
Business vision has always been focused on the customer by creating
and delivering new technology. Information systems play an important
role in a business vision because it helps accomplish the goals the
business has for the future.

25
Linkage to Customers
Starting right from the top with John Chambers, customers are thought
to be key in the success of Cisco. Everyone at Cisco is eager to provide
a broad range of solutions to fulfill whatever the customer wants. Cisco
strives to keep its eye on the need of the customer and not fall in to
the trap of thinking that they know what the customers want. By
catering to the customers with such systems as CCO and MCO, Cisco is
able to increase customer satisfaction, which leads to better
competitive advantage.
Culture
Cisco has a very strong company culture and part of this is through the use of the Cisco
Employee Connection (CEC). Employees are able to have the most up to date
information and post news or hold discussions online. Executives and managers
announce new acquisitions and make staff announcements. The CEC even stores personal
information and benefits. Everyone using the CEC feels more connected to
the company as a whole.22
Because of its reliance on acquisitions Cisco is very eager to accept
good ideas that come from outside. By rewarding managers for
successful integration of acquisitions, Cisco creates a culture that is
open to the best new ideas. At Cisco, ego is discouraged and productivity is
rewarded. These values are what make Ciscos culture unique and
successful.

Section IV: A Final Analysis of the Success of

Cisco Systems
A. The Success of Business Strategy and IT used to
Date

Information Systems has played an important role in the success of

Cisco. By using IS to help develop the business processes, Cisco was
able to gain increased efficiency and better services. Cisco was able to
centralize its IS architecture with the most current technology so that
each business aspect could work together on a whole. Part of the
success at Cisco is due to the involvement of senior management.
Former CIO Peter Solvik, current CIO Brad Boston and other senior
managers were important factors in the continue push to invest and
improve IS throughout the entire company.
Cisco has strong internal systems as well external. Internally, Cisco
Employee Connection (CEC) helps its employees by providing
centralized access to information, tools and resources. Cisco keeps
employees informed with real-time data relevant to their positions and
22

Making the Cisco Connection, David Bunnell, 2000, pg. 141

26
current information regarding Ciscos performance resulting in an
increase in employee morale, and a total optimization of the workforce.
Externally, Cisco continues to maximize the utilization of its IS
architecture for customers with online help. The CCO is an amazing site
for customers who want to buy, research, or find out more about
Ciscos products. CCO has become one of the largest Ecommerce web
sites in the world with a run-rate of over $25 billion annually. Over 90%
of software upgrades are now delivered electronically, lowering costs
and delivery times substantially. MCO has also brought huge benefits
for the company. Currently 50- 60% of Ciscos unit volume from
manufacturing partners comes from MCO. One third of
Ciscos new technologies are from partnerships and acquisitions. 23
Because of the IS, Cisco has been able to create an environment that keeps its customers,
suppliers, partners, and employees happy. By implementing and updating their
technology they are able to gain a competitive advantage of other companies in the
industry of network equipment. Cisco would not be able to sustain a competitive
advantage without the use of IS.

B. The Effective Position of the Company for Future

Performance
Cisco Systems has established itself as the leader worldwide in the
Network Equipment Industry. By using the best information systems to
connect the company directly with its customers, Cisco has added
value to the business. Cisco uses the information systems as a way of
staying on the offensive side, or leadership side of the industry. Senior
managements within Cisco understand the importance of IS in the
companys continual success. Cisco must continue to use IS to provide
innovation, faster product to market time, and cut cost to provide even
more value to its customers. Cisco must concentrate on making sure
that it will always have the competitive advantage over its competitors
by focusing on its customers.
Cisco has achieved a perfect alignment of its Information System with
the overall corporate structure, objective, and strategic goals. Its IT
strategy both complements and reinforces its business strategy,
enabling the creation of greater customer specific value as well as a
significant competitive advantage. With an impressive management
team, loyal employees, and world class IS Cisco will succeed in the
network equipment industry.

23

CCO. http://www.interwoven.com/news/press/1999/991129ccopr.html

27

Bibliography

Anderson, Philip; Cisco Systems: Evolution to E-Business 2002.

http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/cgl/downloads/10001_Cisco_A.pdf

Bunnell, David, Making the Cisco Connection, New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2000.

Fox-genovese, Elizabeth. Profits and Prophets: The Global Economy and the
Erosion of the Family. January 2001.
http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2001/january/Sa21295.htm

Grosvenor, Franklin and Terrence A. Austin. Supply Chain Management Review. August 1,
2001. http://www.manufacturing.net/scm/index.asp?
layout=articleWebzine&articleid=CA154379

Lasky, Diane. Bridging Technology. 2004.

http://gcconline.georgian.edu/business_review/cisco.htm.

Raider, Rhonda. Putting It into productivity. 2002.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac114/ac173/ac205/about_cisco_
packet_netizen09186a00801014f7.html

Ryan, Vincent. The big business of network switches. March 3, 2004.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/21213.html

Cisco IT Financial Management Approach. 2001.

http://internet.fon.bg.ac.yu/download/cisco/Poslovna
%20Primena/CiscoITFinancialManagementApproach.pdf.

Cisco Systems.1992. http://cisco.com/

Lowering the Cost of Training - The Cisco IP/TV Network Streaming Video Solution 2003.
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Companies Ranked by Revenue per Employee. 2004.

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_tablename=nw2003

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Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Cisco Systems. 2004.

28

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Nortel Technologies. 2004.

Hoovers Inc, Hoovers Company Profile-Lucent Technologies. 2004.

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Nortel Networks. 1999. http://www.nortel.com.

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Juniper Networks. 1998. http://www.juniper.net.

Three Key Articles

Bunnell, David, Making the Cisco Connection, New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2000.
This book provided me with a vast head start to the researching process. Although it is outdated,
it gave me a good idea of the story behind Cisco and the general information systems at Cisco.

Raider, Rhonda. Putting It into productivity. 2002.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac114/ac173/ac205/about_cisco_packet_netizen09
186a00801014f7.html
This page summarized a lot of what Cisco has as far as technology. It gave current descriptions on
a lot of their systems. It was useful especially for the second part of the paper.
Cisco Systems.1992. http://cisco.com/
The website to Cisco helped so much. They have one of the biggest websites ever. It helped to
write about the website in the paper because I used it so much and could proudly say I was a
satisfied customer of the website. This site has so much information about their company on it.
No wonder they were able to gain such a competitive advantage over other companies with a site
like this.