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 Cisco, like tech stalwarts Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM, is trying to
branch out from its core business into software, security and
datacenters to capitalize on the explosion of remote computing.
"He's going to run the company well as a caretaker, he's got good
business acumen, said Glenn O'Donnell, an analyst at tech research
firm Forrester "The question is whether he has vision. I don't think
anybody yet knows the answer."
Cisco is the clear market leader in selling network equipment to
companies, controlling about half of a $38 billion global market,
more than four times the total of the next two rivals combined, HP
and China's Huawei, according to Gartner.
The company is now trying to break away from being type-cast as just
a network equipment supplier, laying its bets on what it calls the
"Internet of Everything", basically the recognition that soon almost
every person, device, or sensor will feed data into a network. Cisco
aims to play a role in analyzing and channeling that traffic in as
many places as possible.
"They are making all this noise about the 'Internet of Everything'.
That's a nice ambitious vision, but how can Cisco capitalize on
that, and win in that marketplace?," asked O'Donnell.
Robbins, 49, gave no clear indication of his strategy during a
conference call with reporters on Monday, saying he would rather
listen to customers and shareholders for the next 90 days before
laying out his plan.
The CEO-in-waiting, who takes over in late July, made his name at
Cisco building relationships with the legion of companies that
actually sell Cisco's products to large businesses, making up about
80 percent of Cisco's $49 billion in expected revenue this fiscal
year.
That makes Robbins, who holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics
with a concentration in computer science from the University of
North Carolina, a consummate salesman, like his predecessor.
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Chambers and Robbins, who joked together on a conference call
earlier on Monday, are "cut of the same cloth", said Tim Zimmerman,
an analyst at Gartner. "He's very sales focused, similar to John,
and understands the voice of the customer," he added.
Cisco needs a leader to take the big picture and dismantle the
"silo" approach to selling many, sometimes competing, products to
clients, said Zimmerman. "Is he the right person? Time will always
tell."
Some Wall Street analysts voiced reservations that Robbins had the
deep knowledge of technology necessary to succeed.
"While we like Chuck Robbins individually, we believe investors
would benefit more from technology leadership at the company given
the disruptive changes we believe are coming to networking," said
Rod Hall, an analyst at JP Morgan.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Ken Wills)
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