10. Cisco Systems

For this No. 1 networking company, the FY 2000-01 was a landmark year. There
was the successful visit of CEO John Chambers giving an impetus to the company’s
operations in India. The launching of its networking training program–tying up
with noted technical learning seats in not just the metros but also regional
institutes–was yet another watershed event. The target of Cisco in this
respect being 1,00,000 trained professionals by the year 2005.

Operationally, during last fiscal, Cisco Systems consolidated in most spheres
of operations. It increased its dominance over the router market, maintained its
lead in the switching segment, and gained both mindshare and market share in the
IP contact center space–the only glitch being its rather poor position in the
RAS segments. Cisco introduced cutting-edge technologies like the IP+ optical
solutions, AVVID and IP telephones.

These market gains are reflected in its fiscal performance. Cisco Systems
(India) Pvt. Ltd. widened the gap that it built between it and the rest of the
industry, by growing 125 percent to register a turnover of Rs 765 crore.

From the market perspective, however Cisco Systems had a mixed year. The
company increased its dominance over the router market and had a market share of
around 85 percent. Of the total sales of Cisco India, router contributes 50
percent. On the LAN switch front, Cisco was the number one player and had a good
competition from Cabletron. Cisco sold switches worth Rs 253 crore and had a
market share of around 41 percent, and its next nearest competitor, Cabletron
had around 33 percent. In the RAS segment, Cisco was lagging behind 3Com with a
market share of around 25 percent.

Cisco’s strategy in the near future is based on its underlined concept of
providing end-to-end solutions. It prefers to solve real needs of enterprises,
be it providing the wireline or wireless communications building blocks, the
content delivery platform or the security products. All these will form part of
one complete solution that is media-independent and transcends mere boxes.

Also, the much-awaited optical networking deployments are likely to get
kicking this year. And Cisco, like others, is waiting to play its cards right.
For addressing this segment, Cisco has been making preparations by partnering
with some crucial turnkey providers like HFCL and Global Tele-Systems.