Cisco Systems
Please fill in the blank (This is a very important part of the interview – to know why you are interested):
List 2-3 reason why you are interested in this industry?
___________________________________________________________________________________
List 2-3 reasons why you are interested in Cisco?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
List 2-3 reasons why you are interested in this position?
___________________________________________________________________________________
1. General Company Overview
Cisco Systems routes packets and routs competitors with equal efficiency. Dominating the market for IPbased networking equipment, the company provides routers and switches used to direct data, voice, and
video traffic. Other products include remote access servers, IP telephony equipment, optical networking
components, Internet conferencing systems, set-top boxes, and network service and security systems. It
sells its products primarily to large enterprises and telecommunications service providers, but it also
markets products designed for small businesses and consumers through its Linksys division.
Cisco has used acquisitions -- more than 120 since 1993 -- to broaden its product lines and secure
engineering talent in the highly competitive networking sector. Though Cisco remains committed to
investments that insure the dominance of its core lines (switches and routers still account for about 60%
of sales), many of the company's recent acquisitions have moved it into new markets.
Among its most significant purchases, the company acquired WebEx Communications, a leading provider
of Internet conferencing systems, for approximately $3.2 billion in 2007. The company's acquisition of
cable set-top box leader Scientific-Atlanta for approximately $6.9 billion also counted among its most
ambitious moves. That deal, which closed early in 2006, was the second largest purchase in its history.
(Cisco paid $7 billion for optical networking equipment maker Cerent in 1999.) Cisco has long been an
advocate of the convergence of technology behind data, voice, and television networks, and the
acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta made it one of the leading providers of the set-top boxes that cable
service providers use to deliver advanced features such as movies-on-demand.
Of course with market breadth comes an abundance of competitors, and Cisco faces fellow giants and
swift upstarts across all of its market segments. It shares the Ethernet switch market with companies
ranging from the pioneering 3Com to relative newcomer Extreme Networks; Juniper Networks has made
aggressive moves to wrestle market share in the core router market; and telecommunications powerhouse
Nortel Networks is a formidable opponent in a number of markets, including IP telephony where Cisco
also competes with Avaya and Alcatel-Lucent. The company's acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta puts it in a
head-to-head battle with Motorola in the set-top box market.
Its product line far from limited to hardware, Cisco made a number of software investments in 2007,
including network and email security application developer IronPort Systems for $830 million, as well as
wireless spectrum analysis specialist Cognio. The company also set its sights on the social networking
sector, acquiring software platform developer Five Across, as well as assets of Utah Street Networks, the
operator of the Tribe.net online communities. Cisco acquired WiMax equipment maker Navini Networks
for about $330 million late in the year.
Sources: Company Website and Hoovers.com
2. Financials
Fiscal Year-End
July
2007 Sales (mil.)
$34,922.0
1-Year Sales Growth
22.6%
2007 Net Income (mil.)
$7,333.0
1-Year Net Income Growth
31.4%
2006 Employees
49,926
1-Year Employee Growth
30.0%
3. Key People
Chairman and CEO
Chairman Emeritus
EVP and CFO
SVP and CIO
CTO
John T. Chambers
John P. Morgridge
Dennis D. Powell
Rebecca J. Jacoby
Padmasree Warrior
4. Top Competitors
 Alcatel-Lucent
 Juniper Networks
 Nortel Networks
5. In the News
December 20 2007 - Cisco Evolves Senior Technology Leadership Team
Cisco®, the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and
collaborate, today announced the resignation of executive vice president, Chief Development Officer
Charles Giancarlo, 50, who has decided to pursue new professional opportunities. Earlier this month,
under Giancarlo's leadership, Cisco reorganized its Development Organization and established the
Development Council, chartered with driving Cisco's effectiveness and ability to deliver more focused and
integrated products and solutions to its customers. The Development Council, comprised of seven key
technology leaders, will collectively drive Cisco's development efforts and initiatives in technology
development that are key to Cisco's growth strategy. The Development Council will report directly to
Chairman and CEO John Chambers and will be responsible for the overall engineering, product and
technology strategy for the company and executing against Cisco's technology goals and priorities.
January 10, 2007 – Cisco Sues Apple for Trademark Infringement
Cisco® today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California against Apple, Inc., seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately
copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark. Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000
after completing the acquisition of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products
for several years. Infogear's original filing for the trademark dates to March 20, 1996. Linksys, a division
of Cisco, has been shipping a new family of iPhone products since early last year. On Dec. 18, Linksys
expanded the iPhone® family with additional products.
6. 2007 Acquisitions
December 19, 2007 - Navini Networks, Inc., a leader in the Mobile WiMAX 802.16e-2005 broadband
wireless industry
November 19, 2007 - Securent, Inc., a leading provider of policy management software for enterprises.
Oct. 8, 2007 - Cognio, Inc., the market leader in wireless spectrum analysis and management for wireless
networks.
June 11, 2007 - BroadWare Technologies, a leading provider of IP-based video surveillance software.
May 29, 2007 - WebEx Communications, Inc., a market leader in on-demand collaboration applications.
Sources: Company Website and Hoovers.com
April 3, 2007 - NeoPath Networks, the leading provider of high performance and highly scalable file
storage management solutions.
March 21, 2007 - Reactivity, Inc., a leading XML (eXtensible Markup Language) gateway provider for
organizations ranging from commercial enterprises to the Global 500.
January 9, 2007 - Tivella, Inc., a leading provider of digital signage software and systems.
Sources: Company Website and Hoovers.com