Cisco UnAuthorized

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 320 pages
• Published by: Prima Lifestyles January 26, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0761527753
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0761527756
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 1.3 pounds

Reader Reviews
Any discussion of Cisco Systems either now or in weeks to come may soon prove inadequate, if not flat-out wrong. When Young wrote this book, neither he nor anyone else at that time (including decision-makers at Cisco) could have predicted what has since happened and not-happened in the company and in its industry. It was once said of Soviet historians that they could predict the past with absolute accuracy. The comments which follow are based on the book as published, not as it would have been written with the wisdom of hindsight. Young organizes his material within four Parts: The Cisco Myth, Competition at the Speed of Light, Fault Lines, and Into the Void. He explains that his book "is particularly;y concerned with the period from the beginnings of the dot-com frenzy in early 1999 to the industry's winter of discontent at the end of 2000. It is a portrait of an extraordinary company, its charismatic leader, and the world it is creating, discovering, exploiting, and fashioning. But there is also a dark side to the story, a hollowness at the core of this great company that is symptomatic of much of the Internet generation, and an arrogance that afflicts Cisco particularly." Young makes it very clear that what he presents is his version of the Cisco "story" as of when the book went to press. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, is one of the focal points. Young quotes Chambers extensively and, I think, does so with circumspection. For example, "Make no mistake about it", Chambers asserts, "the Internet is nothing short of the second Industrial Revolution. Industry is going to change. You have to make the change or you won't survive. They key is how to do it without your existing business. And one of the toughest challenges is figuring out the new channels. Timing is the key." This has been one of the key verses of Chambers' mantra for almost a decade. Throughout the book, Young offers his own analysis of the nature and extent of Cisco's response to "the toughest challenges" under Chambers' leadership. He concludes, "Maybe Coyote Valley is where the future is going to be created. Maybe it will not. But it will happen on Internet time supplied by Cisco. John T. Chambers and Cisco, have created the first great empire of the Information Age by selling pickaxes, Levis, and quicksilver to the early miners. Now they're going to sell them to everyone else too. In the process [if they succeed], they'll fulfill the vision printed on the plastic ID card that each of its wears....'We are going to change the way people work, live, play, and learn.'" Chambers remains wholly committed to that vision. Obviously, the full story has yet to be told but in his book, Young has made a strong effort to understand and then explain both Chambers and his company. He shares several rather strong opinions of his own about Cisco's acquisitions (70 companies in five years), its outsourcing model, and its competitors such as Lucent, Nortel, Juniper, and Redback. His readers must now ask questions such as these: Can and will Cisco regain ground lost during the past 6-8 months? What are the most serious barriers to doing that? Young asserts that Cisco has relied on a "dangerous business model." To what extent (if any) has that business model been modified in recent months? Even if modified, can and will it prove equal to new as well as on-going challenges which lie ahead? My own opinion is that Cisco will continue to experience problems but that it will regain much of its momentum and cap value, if not to the extent it once possessed. I share Young's concern about what he calls "one glaring hole: succession" but based on what I have recently observed, Cisco has a rather deep executive bench and Chambers, meanwhile, seems much more inclined to develop that talent than he once was. So, what we have with this book is one man's analysis of a CEO and his company, based on extensive research. Will every reader agree with Young's opinions? Of course not. If there is a revised edition, Young may well modify (if not repudiate) several of his own conclusions. For those who read this book, he increases their understanding of a great company within a major industry. He raises some very important questions about both and then offers his own answers. Each reader must then take it from there. Fair enough. Comment | | (Report this)