Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Networking

    Cisco CEO Chambers: Company Will Invest During Economic Slowdown

    By
    Jeff Burt
    -
    June 22, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Cisco Systems will look to increase investments€”including in emerging markets€”and grow market share in key sectors despite the uncertain global economy, according to Chairman and CEO John Chambers.

      The networking giant this week showed off some of that investment, announcing June 20 an expansion of a year-old program in Israel called Maantech that Chambers said will create 12,000 high-tech jobs for Arabs in Israel over the next four years and hopefully close the economic gap between that country€™s Arabs and Jews.

      In a taped interview with CNBC from the International Economic Forum in Russia, Chambers said such investments were important to Cisco€™s efforts to become a larger IT solutions player, and also part of the company€™s efforts to grow at a time when competitors may be considering cutting costs due to the troubled economies in places like Europe, India and the United States.

      Chambers argued that companies can grow market share in down economies or right when things begin to start on the upswing, and that €œwhen we see things starting to slow in an area, that’s actually when we may invest more aggressively.€

      “We see the emerging economies not only as being able to grow two to three times faster than our traditional business, but we see them as an opportunity for us to begin to talk about, how do you change the whole economy,€ he said in the CNBC interview. €œInstead of selling routers and switches€”which I love to do€”you suddenly say, €œHow can we do job creation? How do you do inclusion of the entire population? How do you change health care?€™”

      Emerging markets will continue to be important, Chambers said. About 20 percent of the company€™s revenue comes from such regions, and at the current trajectory, that should grow to about 30 percent soon, he said. Cisco has been investing in Russia for the past three years, Palestine for four and China for 10, according to Chambers. During that time, the company€™s business in Russia has grown 50 percent, and in the early part of this year, that growth has continued in the €œhigh teens.€

      For its part, China is looking to use IT to improve its health care and educational systems, he said.

      What this means for Cisco is more business and greater market share growth, all helping fuel a transformation in the company, Chambers said.

      €œOur role should change from being a, quote, telecommunications company to potentially€”and it€™s a stretch to get there€”to be the top IT company who helps them solve their goals,€ he said.

      Chambers in the past has talked about investment during down economies. During the global recession several years ago, Cisco aggressively looked to expand into almost three-dozen new markets, such as consumer technologies. However, the company last year drastically scaled back those efforts in a restructuring that included about 3,000 job cuts and closures of underperforming businesses, including many of their consumer products. Instead, Cisco is focusing on five priorities, including cloud, core routing and switching, and the data center.

      The move has worked, Chambers said. Market share in routers€”which was falling before the restructuring€”is up 7 percentage points, and Cisco has more than 70 percent share in the switching market. The company also is seeing growth in markets such as data center technology and set-top boxes.

      Emerging markets will be keys to continuing the growth, he said, and also will help lessen any blows the company might feel from problems in other regions, particularly developed markets like Europe and the United States, where governments are cutting back on IT spending as they try to work their way out of severe budget problems.

      Chambers said reductions in IT spending will hamper these countries€™ abilities to improve in such areas as health care, education, security and defense, and could make recovery even more difficult.

      €œI would argue that governments around the world, if they don’t invest in IT, aren’t going to be able to work their way out of this,” he said. €œI think developed countries will have to change.€

      Jeff Burt
      Jeffrey Burt has been with eWEEK since 2000, covering an array of areas that includes servers, networking, PCs, processors, converged infrastructure, unified communications and the Internet of things.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×