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Maciej Kranz

Vice President and General Manager

Corporate Strategic Innovation Group

Maciej Kranz brings 25 years of business and management experience to his position as Vice President, Corporate Technology Group. Kranz leads an effort focused on identifying and capitalizing on major technology market disruptions, shaping and amplifying Cisco technology strategy, and conducting technology due diligence for potential investments/acquisitions.

Prior to this role, Kranz drove the vision, strategy and P&L for a new hyper-growth business unit focused on Internet of Things. As General Manager, Connected Industries Group, he built a 220-person team and $250M business from the ground up in 18 months. He relentlessly evangelized the business across the company to establish the Internet of Things as a major Cisco initiative.

As VP Borderless Networks, Kranz led the efforts across Cisco businesses of defining, prioritizing, and delivering Borderless Network Architecture and roadmaps. Cisco networks enabled enterprises to conduct business and communicate from anywhere, anytime, and in any way they wish – as Borderless Networks.

With his tenure as VP of Marketing for the Wireless Networking Business Unit (WNBU), Kranz drove business and product strategy for business-class indoor and outdoor wireless and mobility offerings.

Kranz also led product management for the stackable Ethernet switching business unit, which he grew to a multi-billion dollar business across enterprise, small business, and Metro Ethernet networks.

Prior to Cisco, Kranz held various management positions at 3Com Corporation, where he was instrumental in the strategy, development and expansion into new markets of 3Com’s $1B Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) product line. He began his professional career at IBM Corporation in International Marketing.

Articles

April 19, 2017

INNOVATION

Today’s IoT Opportunity: B2B or B2C?

3 min read

While consumer IoT gets the buzz, business-to-business IoT applications are generating billions of dollars in value. Find out how.

March 1, 2017

INNOVATION

There’s Never Been a Better Time for IoT

3 min read

Maciej Kranz wraps up his series on Building the Internet of Things with a look at the state of IoT—today and tomorrow.

February 14, 2017

INNOVATION

Does IoT Need Service Providers?

3 min read

What’s the role of service providers in the Internet of Things? Maciej Kranz explores some options in this book excerpt.

February 8, 2017

INNOVATION

Do You Want Your IoT Project To Fail?

3 min read

No one wants their IoT project to fail—but all too often, they do. Here are some common mistakes to avoid as you consider IoT.

January 11, 2017

INNOVATION

Technology and Business Process: Two Sides of the Same IoT Coin

2 min read

Our Maciej Kranz highlights the #5 ingredient to a successful IoT Implementation Recipe: you have to look at technology and business processes together.

January 4, 2017

INNOVATION

Road Trip to Transformation: It’s a Journey, Not a Destination

2 min read

Learn how to take a comprehensive approach before implementing IoT technology with our best selling author, Maciej Kranz.

December 8, 2016

INNOVATION

Pursue Real IoT Solutions, not Big White Whales

3 min read

Based on his own best-selling book, Maciej Kranz defines the #3 ingredient to IoT Success recipe: focusing on real problems.

November 30, 2016

INNOVATION

IoT and the Environment: Making It Easier To Be Green

3 min read

To celebrate the launch last week of my book, Building the Internet of Things, I am taking a short break from my current series on my “Recipe for IoT...

November 21, 2016

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Building the Internet of Things:  A How-To Book on IoT

2 min read

Get the first practical guide to capturing the unprecedented value of IoT.

November 17, 2016

INNOVATION

The Internet of Things Is About People, Not Just Things

3 min read

Every major technology and business transition affects both process and people. Job roles change, some jobs are eliminated, and new jobs are created. The transition to the Internet of Things...

November 10, 2016

INNOVATION

A Strong Partner Ecosystem Is the First Ingredient for IoT Success

3 min read

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a critical next step for 21st century companies. But it’s also a complex, multidimensional transformation, demanding new skill sets, technologies, and business models. How...

November 3, 2016

INNOVATION

Securing the Internet of Things Is Everybody’s Responsibility

3 min read

For the past couple of weeks, security and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been in the news like never before. During the first few days after the massive distributed...

October 26, 2016

INNOVATION

How to Get Started on the IoT Journey: Four Fast Paths to Payback

4 min read

As I said in my last blog, implementing the Internet of Things (IoT) is a journey, not a one-time event. And like every journey, it begins with a single step. Over the last few years, I have met with dozens of customers across the world and in every industry. Believe it or not, many of […]

October 19, 2016

INNOVATION

Generation IoT: The Key to Business Survival in the 21st Century

4 min read

“The only constant is change.” It’s an adage that goes back 2500 years to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. But never has it been as true as it is today. Technology adoption is growing exponentially, driving change at a dizzying pace. Billions of devices are connecting to networks—most of them the sensors, controllers, and machines that […]

October 12, 2016

INNOVATION

These Boots Were Made For Walking: A New Look at the Path to IoT Success

2 min read

Last year, I wrote a series of blogs exploring the various technology and business factors to keep in mind while considering an Internet of Things (IoT) deployment. Since then, IoT has continued to accelerate its drive toward transformational change across industries. And I have continued to log in thousands upon thousands of miles meeting with […]

September 7, 2016

INNOVATION

No Vacation for Innovation

1 min read

Last week I was pleased to be part of a Cisco celebration of home-grown innovation. Our first-ever Strategic Innovations Party on the Patio showed that there was no vacation for innovation this year at Cisco.Drone

July 18, 2016

INNOVATION

Welcome to the Co-Economy: There’s Never Been a Better Time

2 min read

The world has never been more connected, and there’s never been a better opportunity for co-innovation, co-development, co-marketing, and even co-funding. The time is right for the co-economy—a trend that is reshaping how we work, live, and conduct business. Granted, some aspects of the co-economy have been around for years. I remember the idea of […]

June 23, 2016

INNOVATION

Succeeding with Customers and Partners in the “Co-Economy”

3 min read

Cooperation, co-development, co-opetition. What does it take to succeed in the “co-economy”? Just as the “sharing economy” has changed the basic assumptions upon which the hotel and taxi industries are built, the “co-economy” is changing some of the fundamental ways we think about developing and bringing innovations to market.

May 19, 2016

INNOVATION

Co-Innovating for Startups and Enterprises—Better Together?

4 min read

People say that opposites attract, but big differences in economic or social background, education, and personality can sometimes lead to misunderstanding, conflict—and a weekly appointment with a marriage counselor! The same can be true when unevenly matched companies—such as a large enterprise and a startup—try to collaborate on an innovation initiative.

April 20, 2016

INNOVATION

Setting the Stage for Co-Innovation Success

3 min read

The new model for co-innovation can be messy. No longer a one-thing-at-a-time, linear methodology, today’s development process involves people from different organizations, with different backgrounds and cultures working on several different tracks at once, with rapid prototyping, real-time customer feedback, and multiple iterations all along the way. It involves frequent failures, fast recovery, and new […]

April 5, 2016

INNOVATION

The Time Is Now for Co-Innovation: Three Reasons Why

3 min read

Traditionally, Cisco’s innovation strategy has been built around four foundational pillars: build, buy, partner, and invest. Recently, however, a fifth pillar—co-innovation —has become more prominent. In my last blog, I introduced the idea that innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires diverse skill sets and multiple points of view. But it’s only been in the […]

March 23, 2016

INNOVATION

Co-Innovation: Shining a “Lightbulb” on the Myth of the Lone Inventor

3 min read

A few years ago I sat down with technology leaders at a major oil and gas company to talk about a solution they wanted Cisco to develop, and they had some unique and interesting requirements:

December 16, 2015

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Internet of Things: Hype or Reality?

3 min read

Having spent several days last week at the Internet of Things World Forum in Dubai, I am more convinced than ever that the Internet of Things (IoT) is not some hyped-up futuristic vision of what could be, but a present-day reality that is transforming businesses and industries here and now. In this blog series over […]