More than a decade ago, I had the opportunity to visit Cisco System's campus in Silicon Valley.
John T. Chambers was already the CEO, and a keynote speech he gave centered on the possibilities the Internet would bring in a few years' time and how it would change the way the world works, lives, plays and learns.
At that time, it was not easy to describe Cisco Systems to the readers of The Jakarta Post, as not many people were even familiar with the Internet yet. Computer users talked about Microsoft and IBM, as these were the companies whose products they were very familiar with.
The fact was that Cisco was actually no less influential than the other two companies. The name was just unfamiliar because the main products -- hubs, routers and switches -- were not consumer goods, despite being the appliances that tie the global IP network together.
Needless to say, things are different today. Most of the things CEO John Chambers foreboded in San Jose that morning have long become a reality.
Today, as users' knowledge has become more mature, more people are familiar with the name Cisco, especially as Linksys -- a company that it acquired in 2003 -- has been selling network gears that people use for their small offices and home wireless LANs.
Linksys latest brand is "Linksys by Cisco", and it makes the name more like a household word.
John Chambers is still at the helm of the company. Not very many books have been written on how he has successfully managed the company for such a long time, although I remember reading a number of articles on him in magazines such as BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes.
"If you search Amazon.com for books on GE, you'll find a lot has been written on its management-especially the success of Jack Welch, its outstanding CEO. But if you search for books on Cisco, you'll get a list of manuals and training materials for those who want to pass our certification tests," said Irfan Setiaputra, Cisco's managing director for Indonesia, during the annual Cisco Networkers Solutions Forum at the Shangri-la hotel, in Jakarta, last week.
This is something his company wants to change.
What is special about Cisco Systems today, aside from having been led by the same CEO for so many years? Granted, it has been challenged by a number of competitors, including, for example, 3Com. Some of the technologies provided by its competitors are better accepted in the market.
Apart from having a reputation for acquiring other tech companies to strengthen its portfolio, there may not be much news from Cisco. Perhaps we can attribute it to the CEO's non-controversial personality. I don't know whether he still scoops out ice cream for Cisco employees as he pushes the ice cream cart around the building.
One of the major changes in Cisco Systems today is the stronger drive toward collaboration; it has the products and platforms for it. You may still remember Cisco's TelePresence, the life-like meeting solution the company was pushing into the market last year. This was one of the tools for collaboration.
In addition, it also completed its acquisition of a company called WebEx Communications. WebEx provides secure, efficient and speedy business-to-business collaboration solutions. Currently, it is also developing the next generation of Unified Communications, which is seen as the next business efficiency tool.
In case you want to try out WebEx, there's a 14-day free trial being offered at http://www.webex.com. There'll be a host that will guide you as you explore the features.
Any company wishing to introduce an innovation can only convince its audience through a live demonstration. Cisco is no exception. So, it is in the process of rolling out the next level of collaboration across the company.
There are a few examples already. First, it now has two headquarters, one in San Jose and another in Bangalore.
"This makes us a company that operates 24 hours a day," beamed Irfan. "When it's dark in Silicon Valley, the Bangalore office takes over," he said, adding that this made Cisco a truly global company.
What is the impact? In the past, Cisco was able to undertake two major initiatives per year, at the most. Now it can do more.
"Today we have around twenty large initiatives, and John Chambers is involved, perhaps in only three of them," Irfan said.
One of the biggest initiatives is China 3.0, which is aimed at developing Cisco's business in China. The target is that within six years, the China operation should be contributing up to 10 percent of its total revenue.
The shift is bound to require a lot of internal changes. The company's structure, which was based on a command-and-control model, will have to be realigned. However, leadership will still to be needed.
One of the results is undoubtedly the products and solutions that meet local demands. This company is already moving in this direction. The Linksys WRH54G is a wireless broadband router that has been customized for home users in Indonesia. With a manufacturer's suggested retail price of Rp 425,000, this device will provide four Ethernet ports in addition to 802.11g -- or the older 802.11b -- wireless connection in your house.
One of the interesting features of this product is that it allows users to schedule the access availability. This is an important feature, as users can now control their bills whether their subscription is based on duration or volume of data. The new product also combines an internal and an external antenna, enabling it to support a variety of antenna technologies.
This new router is perhaps one example of what has come out of the shift. It's easy to set up and offers the features that local users need.
We look forward to seeing books on the new management style and see whether Cisco's move into collaboration does indeed meet the needs of next generation businesses.
John T. Chambers was already the CEO, and a keynote speech he gave centered on the possibilities the Internet would bring in a few years' time and how it would change the way the world works, lives, plays and learns.
At that time, it was not easy to describe Cisco Systems to the readers of The Jakarta Post, as not many people were even familiar with the Internet yet. Computer users talked about Microsoft and IBM, as these were the companies whose products they were very familiar with.
The fact was that Cisco was actually no less influential than the other two companies. The name was just unfamiliar because the main products -- hubs, routers and switches -- were not consumer goods, despite being the appliances that tie the global IP network together.
Needless to say, things are different today. Most of the things CEO John Chambers foreboded in San Jose that morning have long become a reality.
Today, as users' knowledge has become more mature, more people are familiar with the name Cisco, especially as Linksys -- a company that it acquired in 2003 -- has been selling network gears that people use for their small offices and home wireless LANs.
Linksys latest brand is "Linksys by Cisco", and it makes the name more like a household word.
John Chambers is still at the helm of the company. Not very many books have been written on how he has successfully managed the company for such a long time, although I remember reading a number of articles on him in magazines such as BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes.
"If you search Amazon.com for books on GE, you'll find a lot has been written on its management-especially the success of Jack Welch, its outstanding CEO. But if you search for books on Cisco, you'll get a list of manuals and training materials for those who want to pass our certification tests," said Irfan Setiaputra, Cisco's managing director for Indonesia, during the annual Cisco Networkers Solutions Forum at the Shangri-la hotel, in Jakarta, last week.
This is something his company wants to change.
What is special about Cisco Systems today, aside from having been led by the same CEO for so many years? Granted, it has been challenged by a number of competitors, including, for example, 3Com. Some of the technologies provided by its competitors are better accepted in the market.
Apart from having a reputation for acquiring other tech companies to strengthen its portfolio, there may not be much news from Cisco. Perhaps we can attribute it to the CEO's non-controversial personality. I don't know whether he still scoops out ice cream for Cisco employees as he pushes the ice cream cart around the building.
One of the major changes in Cisco Systems today is the stronger drive toward collaboration; it has the products and platforms for it. You may still remember Cisco's TelePresence, the life-like meeting solution the company was pushing into the market last year. This was one of the tools for collaboration.
In addition, it also completed its acquisition of a company called WebEx Communications. WebEx provides secure, efficient and speedy business-to-business collaboration solutions. Currently, it is also developing the next generation of Unified Communications, which is seen as the next business efficiency tool.
In case you want to try out WebEx, there's a 14-day free trial being offered at http://www.webex.com. There'll be a host that will guide you as you explore the features.
Any company wishing to introduce an innovation can only convince its audience through a live demonstration. Cisco is no exception. So, it is in the process of rolling out the next level of collaboration across the company.
There are a few examples already. First, it now has two headquarters, one in San Jose and another in Bangalore.
"This makes us a company that operates 24 hours a day," beamed Irfan. "When it's dark in Silicon Valley, the Bangalore office takes over," he said, adding that this made Cisco a truly global company.
What is the impact? In the past, Cisco was able to undertake two major initiatives per year, at the most. Now it can do more.
"Today we have around twenty large initiatives, and John Chambers is involved, perhaps in only three of them," Irfan said.
One of the biggest initiatives is China 3.0, which is aimed at developing Cisco's business in China. The target is that within six years, the China operation should be contributing up to 10 percent of its total revenue.
The shift is bound to require a lot of internal changes. The company's structure, which was based on a command-and-control model, will have to be realigned. However, leadership will still to be needed.
One of the results is undoubtedly the products and solutions that meet local demands. This company is already moving in this direction. The Linksys WRH54G is a wireless broadband router that has been customized for home users in Indonesia. With a manufacturer's suggested retail price of Rp 425,000, this device will provide four Ethernet ports in addition to 802.11g -- or the older 802.11b -- wireless connection in your house.
One of the interesting features of this product is that it allows users to schedule the access availability. This is an important feature, as users can now control their bills whether their subscription is based on duration or volume of data. The new product also combines an internal and an external antenna, enabling it to support a variety of antenna technologies.
This new router is perhaps one example of what has come out of the shift. It's easy to set up and offers the features that local users need.
We look forward to seeing books on the new management style and see whether Cisco's move into collaboration does indeed meet the needs of next generation businesses.
Source : www.thejakartapost.com
Zatni Arbi , Contributor , Jakarta
