Cisco comes out swinging after cutbacks

14.09.2011
Cisco Systems emerged from 150 days of restructuring on Tuesday as an aggressive competitor, laying out some of the problems that led it to make changes, while saying its rivals are in even worse predicaments.

The dominant networking company started to streamline its operations and refocus itself on a few core businesses earlier this year after . The subsequent restructuring and other businesses and , with almost 23,000 employees moved in the process. Executives laid out some more details on Tuesday at Cisco's annual financial analyst conference in San Jose, California.

But chairman and CEO John Chambers did not become a casualty of the reorganization, despite reports on Tuesday that he would step down at the conference. Late in the event, in answer to an analyst's question, Chambers said he had agreed last week to stay on at the request of Cisco's board.

Chambers acknowledged the company had lost its way and become inefficient in some areas, likening it to getting out of shape. "We were fat," Chambers said. "I mean, we had an extra four or five inches around the waistline."

For one thing, Cisco's organization has become too unwieldy for customers to work with. "We make it painful in the contract negotiations and software licensing," Chambers said. Also, the company didn't listen well to customers' input about some products and didn't share enough roadmap information, he added.

In addition, customers have said they want Cisco to more closely integrate its products so they are easier to use. And some parts of Cisco have fallen behind on innovation, Chambers noted.