E-Commerce Times Talkback

Re: Is Cisco Still Almighty?
Posted by: Keith Regan 2003-06-13 01:11:42

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The dot-com boom propelled few firms higher than Cisco Systems. Sparked by the proliferation of Internet-related companies, demand for its networking gear and switches skyrocketed. On the downside, the crash, which hit telecoms and dot-coms hard, did not spare Cisco. However, despite a rough 2001, the company was one of the first tech giants to recover its balance. With some recent acquisitions in what it sees as key emerging markets, is Cisco poised to regain its titanic status?

Re: Is Cisco Still Almighty?
Posted by: jsittko 2003-06-13 01:33:47 In reply to: Keith Regan

They'll be almighty for awhile if they recognize a few things: 1) That they need to get that IOS upgraded to a full module architecture instead of old spaghetti code; like Juniper did (I'm not from Juniper) 2) If #1 gets done they need to let price be a weapon because hardware will continue to be commoditized and available to anyone, so sell on open standard functionality; i.e. features that solve a problem. 3) Recognize that #2 is true because ethernet is too pervasive and cost effective to believe it will not be dominant in the MAN sooner than many believe.
Think of it this way.
Q) when Apple screwed up and allowed MSFT to get traction, how did that traction turn into its own engine of growth and dominance?
A) An installed base.
The biggest hurdle to CSCO is the multitude of 50+ year old Class 5 switch engineers that would likely not be needed soon after implementation in the MAN. Accordingly those engineers have an incentive to preach that "this stuff is too risky right now...we advise against it."
The issue certainly isn't voice QUALITY...ever use a cell phone? Those gizmos sure did take off.