Rank 11 - Cisco Systems

An
extraordinarily high mind share among ISPs helped Cisco grow by a whooping 143
percent registering a turnover of Rs 360 crore. In the last fiscal, the company
was ranked #1 in the networking products segment by Voice & Data. It has
retained this position for the third year in succession. It has now reached the
bracket where its new competitors–the telco equipment suppliers–tread.

There is a definite shift towards data-centric carrier
infrastructure architecture and Cisco talks of an all IP network, running right
on top of the core fibre network (with DWDM, of course).

Enterprises constituted around 70 percent of Cisco’s
revenues. ISPs and other communication service providers contributed the rest.
In terms of product-wise revenues, routers contributed 45 percent and switches
35 percent.

The company held its #1 position in routers, switches, and
RAS. Its success in India can be attributed to its brand positioning and quality
of support that it offers to its customers. So much so that most of the system
integrators try to push Cisco products in the market.

Cisco, with all its acquisitions, is getting stronger on the technological
front and moving at a much faster pace than its competitors. The telco equipment
suppliers are slower to react and new start-ups still have a long way to go. It
has a new CEO, Manoj Chugh, who took over the reigns recently. With Domestic
Long Distance (DLD) opening up, it should have no problems maintaining its
growth rate.