John Chambers told me he had a message for InformationWeek ‘s readers: Don’t underestimate Cisco.
Almost two months after announcing plans to cut 5% of its workforce as it “realigns resources” to focus on fast-growing businesses such as cloud, mobile and data center, the Cisco CEO sat down with me on Oct. 2 for a 30-minute interview before his keynote address at Interop New York.
Chambers wanted to remind people that the world’s biggest networking company has encountered such “bumps in the road” many times before, only to “come out of each of those bumps stronger than we’ve gone into them.” In a sign of just how high Cisco’s growth ambition is, the company’s layoff disclosure in August came as it was reporting fourth-quarter net income of $ 2.3 billion, 18% higher than in the year-earlier quarter, on 6.2% higher revenue of $ 12.4 billion. Call it a speed bump.
“We’ve hit such bumps five, six times. Each time it’s occurred people get all worried,” said the 64-year-old Chambers, who exudes energy even after 18 years leading the same company (he said he still lifts weights and runs four to six miles three times a week). “I don’t worry about the bumps in the road, whether they’re economic or small technical challenges or key endpoint competitors for a period of time. If we get the big picture right, we execute very well architecturally, we will become the No. 1 IT player. I believe that IT and communications will completely come together.”