By David Link
Sep 1, 2009
Despite the loud protest out in front of the Moscone Center, Cisco Live officially kicked off with a keynote by CEO John Chambers. This is the 20th anniversary of Cisco Live, and I had been told many times that hearing Chambers speak was not to be missed. Me and several thousand other people apparently. The line to get into the the keynote hall stretched from one Moscone Center Hall to the other underneath Howard Street.
Entertained by scenes of Cisco Live's past and quite loud 80's music, we waited for the great man. To pass the time and make sure the OCD of us actually stayed put, there was some live texting going on. One of the questions: "What did you tell your boss to get to come to Cisco Live?" Some of the answers: I would bring him back a hat. I had to learn more about these router thingies. KISS would not be playing this year.
I am the boss. Free telepresence!
Our "Host" for Cisco Live this year is Carlos Dominguez, Senior VP, Office of the CEO. Carlos told the audience that the first Cisco Live was in Palo Alto with about 100 networkers. And this Cisco Live has over 10,000 attendees, plus over 3000 people joining virtually. What a difference 20 years makes!
Some Cisco internal tidbits: Even the Cisco SVP's fly coach. They eat in the cafeteria; there's no private executive dining room. The SVP's offices don't even have windows. (OK, that was a joke)
Next up: John Morgridge, Chairman Emeritus, Cisco Systems
Cisco was conceived and incubated at Stanford University. The business was started on the campus - but then Stanford kicked them off when they found out. So the business moved to two of the founders' home complete with a nice 3-car garage, which extra space came in handy for the big equipment they were using at the time.
Logo evolution: Cisco as in Frisco as in San Francisco. The golden gate bridge is the inspiration for the image on the logo. There have been many logos over the years - one for each new VP of marketing (I think the people around me were a bit taken aback at how hard I laughed at that one.)
Advice from John Morgridge: in addition to talented engineers, what do you need to create a successful startup? T-shirts, pizza and beer
Next came CEO John Chambers. The protesters made it inside the keynote and broke John Chambers rhythm for a bit. (I can tell that they're being taken outside - as the yelling fades)The point of John's talk was to share where Cisco is going. What's on John's mind?
The economy of course, but a company like Cisco needs to look at where is the marketplace 2, 3, 4, 5 years out and not just where it is today. "There has never been more innovation opportunities than today."
[Note: I will say that at times it felt like I was at a Cisco Employee Annual Kickoff - but perhaps that was the point.] Cisco combines: Vision (5-10 years out) + Differentiated Strategy (2-4 year cycle) about how to get there + Execution Plans (12-18 months)
Where Cisco is Headed - The Big Points: 1) Despite or perhaps because of the down economy, Cisco is going to be more aggressive and certainly more ambitious than ever before in its history. Instead of heading into a couple of new market adjacencies (John's word), they are attacking over 30.
The only way to make something like this work? Well it doesn't hurt to have $30 billion in the bank. But John talked about building technology architectures - with building block components that were shared across the market adjacencies they are planning to go into.
2) Focus on Video: The Flip video (and its mass acceptance) has made video simple and pervasive in everyday life. Video is the communication vehicle that changes how business is done. "Video is the killer app."
3) Focus on Collaboration (Web 2.0): with all Webex and social media/networking, collaboration and Web 2.0 are becoming mainstream. It is these types of communication media that will fuel the next decade of productivity.
And the changes start internally for Cisco. All these plans necessitated a major org structure change. Not "command and control" but "collaboration and teamwork." [Note: seems rather black and white. Cannot believe collaboration and teamwork didn't exist to a great extent at Cisco pre video and Webex.] John turned right and 60,000 people turned right with him.
"Majority of times I talk to the customers, it is now virtual. This is how every employee of every company will work, not just the CEO." Here's an example of this new business model: traditional vs virtual events
Recently, Cisco held a Leadership Offsite meeting and cut costs per person from $2800 to $600.
Another example of how video/collaboration changes/enhances the customer experience: New Cowboys stadium - 3000 HDTV cameras. Everything done with networking - video, digital media, wireless, etc. "Changing the fan experience" increased revenue per customer by 50%. Changes everything. And eventually, Cisco will be bringing this experience all the way to the home with consumer TelePresence.
List of 30+ market adjacencies Cisco will move into:
- Video,
- China 3.0,
- India 3.0,
- Cloud computing,
- Small business,
- Consumer,
- Green,
- Cisco 3.0,
- Collaboration us/webex/telepresence (at the top of the pyramid),
- Virtualization/data center,
- Managed services,
- RIS - routers in space,
- Mobility,
- Smart Grid,
- Software/XaaS,
- Smart Connected Communities,
- Media Solutions,
- Emerging Countries 2.0,
- Virtual Healthcare,
- Safety/Security,
- Solutions,
- Consumer,
- Commercial acceleration,
- Mexico 3.0,
- Advertising,
- Sports/entertainment,
- Quality,
- Command/Control moving to Collaboration/Teamwork.
Nobody else in the industry thinks about this as more than 1 or 2 products. We think about it as an "architecture." Cisco's (and John's) mistakes (what might trip them up):
1) don't move fast enough
2) try to move fast without a replicable process to make it happen again and again
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