Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO (http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=CSCO&selected=CSCO)), one of the most successful companies of the Internet era, originally manufactured just routing equipment. These days, in addition to routers, Cisco sells a variety of devices intended to connect all sizes of business. These include, but are not limited to:

Security devices such as Firewalls and VPN Concentrators
Switches and Hubs
IP Telephony products such as CallManager and phones
Network Management software such as CiscoWorks
Storage Area Network (SAN) Equipment

Cisco calls itself "The Worldwide Leader in Networking for the Internet" [1] (http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/company_overview.html).

In 2003, Cisco acquired Linksys, a popular manufacturer of computer networking hardware and positioned the Linksys brand it as a network-hardware brand for the home and the end user installed SOHO network market. The Cisco brand is positioned to service the managed remote access, teleworker access, security services, storage area networking, desktop and data center routing and switching, the commercial market IP communication needs as well as the enterprise and service provider infrastructure and remote access market.

Using acqusitions, internal development and partnering with other companies Cisco has made inroads in the IP telephony part of the voice market with the Cisco IP phones, call managers and telephony PSTN gateways.

The married couple Leonard Bosack and Sandra Lerner, who 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. Cisco created the first commercially successful router, a device that enables once-incompatible computers in far-off computer networks to communicate.

In 1990 Bosack and Lerner walked away with $170 million after the firm's venture capitalists brought in professional managers [2] (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1997/0825/6004058a.html). Bosack and Lerner later divorced.

Cisco has set up "Cisco Networking Academies" in 128 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)
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)
CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional)
CCIP (Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional)
CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional)

The company has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California.

Company CEO is John Chambers.

History of the Cisco name

The word "Cisco" does not stem from an acronym (such as C.I.S.C.O.) but from an abbreviation of San Francisco. In the early days, when the founders proposed names, they repeatedly came up with names already reserved or in use. Eventually someone suggested "cisco", with a lowercase "c". (Another company named "CISCO" already existed at that time.) The name with the lowercase "c" continued in use for a long time, until it became capitalized due to problems getting the lowercase "c" right in publications.

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

Diversity

Cisco recieved a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.

External links

Cisco web site (http://www.cisco.com/)
Yahoo! - Cisco Systems, Inc. Company Profile (http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/13/13494.html)

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Cisco Systems

History of the Cisco name

See also

A partial list of products:

Diversity

External links