Enterprise and telecom network vendor Cisco has appointed Chuck Robbins as its chief executive officer.
In line with the strategy of IT giant Microsoft, Cisco selected an insider to take up the top job. Microsoft appointed an Indian born Satya Nadella. With Chuck Robbins becoming the CEO of Cisco, many Indians have lost a big opportunity to lead Cisco from the front. Earlier, there were speculations that Cisco may get an Indian CEO.
Chuck Robbins will take over the CEO position from John Chambers, who scripted the growth story of Cisco for the last 20 years. John Chambers will assume the role of executive chairman on July 26, 2015.
Robbins, who joined Cisco in 1997, knows every Cisco segment, technology area, and geography.
Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers said: “Our next CEO needs to thrive in a highly dynamic environment, to be capable of accelerating what is working very well for Cisco, and disrupting what needs to change.”
He most recently served as Cisco’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, leading the company’s global sales and partner team that drives $47 billion in business for the company.
He has helped lead and execute many of the company’s investments and strategy shifts, including building the industry’s most powerful partner program, now worth more than $40 billion in revenue to the company each year.
He was also a key architect of the company’s strategy for the commercial business segment, which grew 8 percent year-over-year last quarter, and now represents 25 percent of Cisco’s total business. He has sponsored the security and collaboration businesses at the executive level and was a sponsor for the Sourcefire and Meraki acquisitions.
As a member of the team that has led Cisco’s transformation over the last 3-plus years, Robbins has driven the reinvention of Cisco’s sales organization, cementing its place as the envy of the industry. But the growth of Cisco in the last two years was not impressive due to tough market conditions.
John Chambers has served as CEO of Cisco since January 1995, having joined the company in 1991 as the head of sales. He has grown the company from $1.2 billion in annual revenue to its current run rate of $48 billion.
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Baburajan K
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