Read the memo explaining Cisco's new reorganization, as it combines key cloud and data center businesses and shuffles its leadership
- Cisco is making key changes as part of an effort to make it more competitive in a changing enterprise tech landscape, highlighted by the rise of the cloud, according to an internal memo.
- The changes, which were outlined in a memo from Executive Vice President David Goeckeler, highlights a heavier emphasis on its cloud strategy and on consolidating its efforts in the networking and data center markets.
- Cisco is combining its enterprise networking and data center teams into one group to be led by Senior Vice President Scott Harrell. The tech giant is also creating "an expanded group" focused on the cloud, and is also reorganizing its service provider, hardware and silicon, and security development teams.
- "While I know these updates may seem like a significant change, it's important to understand, this alignment will create new opportunities for driving synergies across domains and will strongly position the company against our competitors," Goeckeler said.
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Cisco is making key organizational changes in a bid to become more competitive in a changing tech landscape that is being transformed by the rapid rise of the cloud.
The changes, which were outlined in a memo from Executive Vice President David Goeckeler, highlights a heavier emphasis on its cloud strategy and on consolidating its efforts in the networking and data center markets.
"It's critical that we continue aligning our development process with the consumption motion our customers need as they begin to embark on a multi-domain approach," he said in the memo, which was reported on earlier by The Information and CRN.
Cisco is combining its enterprise networking and data center teams into one group to be led by Senior Vice President Scott Harrell. The tech giant is also creating "an expanded group" focused on cloud to be led by Senior Vice President Liz Centoni, who will continue to lead the company's Internet of Things business.
The company is also reorganizing its service provider, hardware and silicon, and security development teams.
"While I know these updates may seem like a significant change, it's important to understand, this alignment will create new opportunities for driving synergies across domains and will strongly position the company against our competitors," Goeckeler said.
Cisco emerged as a powerhouse as a leading provider of networking equipment, sometimes referred to as the plumbing used by businesses to set up private data centers. But the cloud has disrupted that market as it let businesses set up networks on web-based platforms like those run by Amazon, Microsoft and Google - and allowed them to scale down or even abandon in-house data centers.
Traditional enterprise tech players like Cisco are banking on two trends that could make them more significant players in this new world. One is the hybrid cloud in which businesses set up networks on web-based platforms while keeping huge chunks of their data and applications in private data centers. The other is multicloud, in which businesses set up networks on different cloud platforms and on in-house data centers.
Cisco is also adapting to other major trends, including AI and 5G. In a statement, the company said the changes "will better align our development process with our customers' needs as they transition to a multi-domain approach."
Read the full memo from Cisco Executive Vice President David Goeckeler below:
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