Over the last three years at Cisco, we’ve accomplished incredible things amidst an unbelievably dynamic time in our industry. During this period, we’ve delivered industry-leading innovation and increased our relevance with customers, and transformed Cisco. Our Presidents, Rob Lloyd and Gary Moore, have played a significant role in driving these results. Thanks to their vision, we have the strong foundation that will allow Cisco to lead in the digital age.

As I transition to the role of CEO, my focus areas are acceleration, simplification, operational rigor and culture. These will be the foundation for Cisco’s continued evolution that will position us for the future. The moves we’ve already made as a company in the last three years in Engineering, Sales and Services were designed to deliver innovation with speed and meet the needs and expectations of our customers.

To drive our continued success and leadership, our organization structure must always evolve as the market changes. Today I am announcing that at the end of this fiscal year, Rob and Gary will be leaving Cisco. They will remain in their President roles until July 25^th. Going forward, we will move to a flatter leadership team designed for the speed, innovation and execution that is required of us over the next decade.

Rob and Gary have provided tremendous leadership for Cisco. I believe that one of their greatest achievements is the breadth and depth of the leadership team they’ve helped build. They are both deeply passionate about developing great talent. I am confident that many of those world-class leaders they’ve recruited and mentored will no doubt lead Cisco into the future, and for this I’m incredibly grateful.

Continue reading “Leadership Transitions for the Digital Age”

As you may have heard by now, I have decided to leave Cisco at the end of July to begin the next chapter in my career.

After nearly 21 years of riding this rocket ship called Cisco, my mind is filled with the amazing experiences I have had around the world with colleagues, business partners and customers. Together, we have harnessed the incredible power of the Internet to change the world.

I have had so many memorable and proud moments during these past two decades thanks to the opportunities that Cisco presented to me and to my family. So humor me here, and join me, while I reflect back on just a few of them. To all of you who were part of these, I hope you realize how much I appreciate your friendship.

The fun all started when I joined Cisco Canada in the fall of 1994 as President and General Manager. I inherited a small team of 40, with lots of open headcount requisitions, and was quickly amazed at how this powerful small team effectively served customers as the convergence to IP accelerated. I remember the closed-door meetings talking about “Project Symphony”, the program that led to the introduction of the Catalyst 5000. Following several acquisitions of Ethernet switching companies, Cisco established the switching juggernaut that it has maintained for almost two decades. We also acquired Stratacom, which provided us with some much needed “carrier chops” and helped us become the market leader in the IP-centric service provider market we all recognize today.

Continue reading “Keep Skating to Where the Puck is Going, Not Where it is”

The decision to move on and embark on my new chapter has not been an easy one. I joined Cisco in 2001 because I saw the opportunity to change the world for the better with our technology. My 14 years here have been immensely rewarding because of the friendships I’ve made with so many of you. The last four and a half years, first as COO and then President, have been the most challenging and exciting professional experience any one could hope for in their career.

Looking back at my career here, I am extremely proud of many things. When I joined, John asked me to build a world class services organization that would be best in class in terms of margins, value add to our customers and supportive of our important and vast partner ecosystem. The Services organization I joined to build has grown from $3 billion to nearly $10 billion in annual revenue in 12 years, with among the strongest margins in the industry, and is a key contributor to Cisco’s growth and profitability. Importantly, our partner delivered services represents many billions of dollars beyond that. Culturally, Services has always led with a mindset of customer first and has led the company as we have moved to focus on our customers’ business outcomes.

Continue reading “Next Chapter for All of Us”