CISCO SYSTEMS

a building on the Cisco Systems campus in San Jose

Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner (Bachelor of Science from Chico State University, Masters in Econometrics from Claremont University, Masters in Statistics and Computer Science from Stanford University), a married couple that worked in computer operations staff at Stanford University, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally written by William Yeager, another staff employee who had begun the work years before Bosack arrived from the University of Pennsylvania, where Bosack had received his Bachelor's degree.

While Cisco was not the first company to develop and sell a router (a device that forwards computer traffic from one network to another), it did create the first commercially successful multi-protocol router to allow previously incompatible computers to communicate using different network protocols. As the Internet Protocol (IP) has become a standard, the importance of multi-protocol routing as a function has declined. Today, Cisco's largest routers are marketed to route primarily IP packets and MPLS frames.

In 1990 the company went public and was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Bosack and Lerner walked away from the company with $170 million [4], and later divorced.

In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalisation of more than 500 billion (that is ½ trillion) dollar [5][6]. In 2006, with about 110 billion dollar market cap, it is still one of the most valuable companies [7].

Using acquisitions, internal development and partnering with other companies Cisco has made inroads into many network equipment markets outside of routing, including Ethernet switching, remote access, branch office routers, ATM networking, security, IP telephony and others. In 2003, Cisco acquired Linksys, a popular manufacturer of computer networking hardware and positioned it as a leading brand for the home and the end user networking market (SOHO).

Cisco has set up "Cisco Networking Academies" in 150 countries aimed at teaching students to design and maintain computer networks.

Cisco provides certifications to professionals in the networking field. These include:

• CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)
• CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
• CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional)
• CCIP (Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional)
• CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional)
• CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional)
• CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
• CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)

The company has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California and also many outposts in other countries.

Executives

John Chambers is currently the President and CEO.

Other senior executives include:

John Morgridge - Chairman of the Board

Brad Boston - Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Charles H. Giancarlo - Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer

Dennis D. Powell - Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Susan Bostrom - Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

John N. Stewart - Chief Security Officer, Corporate Security Programs Organization

Wim Elfrink - Senior Vice President, Customer Advocacy

Joe Pinto - Senior Vice President, Technical Services

Rick Justice - Senior Vice President, Worldwide Field Operations

Origin of the Cisco name

The name "Cisco" is an abbreviation of San Francisco. According to John Morgridge, employee 34 and the company's former president, the founders hit on the name and logo while driving to Sacramento to register the company -- they saw the Golden Gate Bridge framed in the sunlight [8]. The name cisco Systems (with the lowercase "c") continued in use within the engineering community at the company long after the official company name was changed to Cisco Systems, Inc. Users of Cisco products can still see the name ciscoSystems occasionally in bug reports and IOS messages.

The company's logo reflects its San Francisco name heritage: it represents a stylized Golden Gate Bridge.

Corporate acquisitions

For a list and discussion of Cisco's acquisitions, see Cisco Systems acquisitions.

A partial list of products

• Hardware

• • Application Network Services
  • Broadband Cable products: uBR7100 series, uBR7200 series, uBR10012 CMTSes. A line of Cable Modems, the uBR900 series and CVA122 series, were also made in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but have since been discontinued.
  • Clean Access Server
  • Content Networking
  • DSL & Long Reach Ethernet
  • Interoperability Systems
  • Optical Networking series: 15xxx Series: 15302, 15305, 15310, 15327, 15454, 15600, 1580x, 15900(wavelength router, but end for sale)
  • Routers: 700, 800, 100x, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2500, 2600, 2800, 3600, 3700, 3800, 4500, 4700, 7000, 7200, 7400, 7500, 7600, 10000, 12000, and CRS-1
  • Security & VPN products: Anomaly Detection and Mitigation Appliances, Cisco AVS 3110 Application Velocity System, Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances, Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliances, Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrators, Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series/7600 Series WebVPN Services Module, IPSec VPN Services Module (VPNSM) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches and Cisco 7600 Series Routers
  • Server Networking & Virtualization
  • SPA Phone Adapters
  • Storage networking
  • Switches
    • Catalyst series: 500 Express, 1200, 1600, 1700, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2800, 29xx, 3000, 35xx, 37xx, 40xx, 45xx, 5xxx, 6xxx, etc..
    • Metro Ethernet ME 3400 Series Access Switches
    • MGX 8800 Series Multiservice Switches: MGX 8830, MGX 8850
  • Universal Gateways & Access Servers
  • Video
  • Voice & IP Communications: 7900 Series IP Phones: 7940, 7960 and 7970
  • Wireless: Wireless Integrated Switches and Routers,Wireless IP Telephony, Wireless LAN Access, Aironet Wireless Bridges and Workgroup Bridges, Cisco Wireless LAN Client Adapters, Wireless LAN Controllers, Wireless Network Management, Wireless LAN Management, Wireless Security Servers, Wireless IP Phone 7920|Wireless IP Phone 7920

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• Software
  • Cisco CallManager
  • Cisco IP Transfer Point (ITP)
  • Cisco Multimedia Conference Manager (MCM)
  • Cisco Fabric Manager
  • CiscoView
  • CiscoWorks Network Management software
  • Cisco Intelligent Contact Management
  • Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)
  • Cisco Access Registrar (AR)
  • Cisco Security MARS (Monitoring, Analysis and Response System)
  • Cisco Clean Access Agent, Cisco Clean Access Manager

• • Cisco LocalDirector load-balancing appliance
  • Content Loadbalancers (acquired from Arrowpoint)
  • Content Engine
  • Wireless LAN Solution Engine
  • VPN Concentrator
  • Packet Tracer

• • Cisco IP/TV
  • Cisco IP/VC
  • Cisco CallManager Express (CCME)
  • Cisco MeetingPlace
  • Cisco Unity
  • Cisco Secure Desktop
  • Cisco Security Manager
  • Cisco Transport Manager
  • Cisco Enhanced Device Interface

Criticism

• Internet censorship in mainland China - International Corporations

See also

• IOS - Internetwork Operating System
• CLEO Cisco router in Low Earth Orbit
• Catalyst switch

External links

• Cisco Systems Home Page
• Cisco Networking Academy
• Yahoo! - Cisco Systems, Inc. Company Profile
• Google Finance - Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Cisco video on the history of the company
• Video and audio of speech by CEO John Chambers at Duke University
• Information on Cisco Certifications
• Interactive Overview - 20 Years of Cisco