Cisco narrows focus with new business structure

The CEO of Cisco says that the company will be making bold decisions to narrow its focus

Cisco Systems Inc will undergo a number of structural changes following several challenging quarters as the networking behemoth attempts to become more efficient in bringing products to market.

Cisco, which last month killed off its Flip Video camcorder business, has tried to narrow its focus as competition intensifies. It now wants to focus on five priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; datacentre virtualization; architectures and video.


Last month, CEO John Chambers acknowledged criticism that the company has attempted to compete in too many areas. He sent employees a memo vowing to take "bold steps" to narrow the company's focus.

Chambers warned of "tough decisions" ahead for the company.

Spokesman Kristin Carvell declined to comment on whether there would be layoffs or executive departures.

Cisco said it will organise worldwide field operations according to three geographic regions. Its services business will organise around key customer segments and delivery models.

The company is also streamlining its engineering organisation and will now have three "councils," which at Cisco have traditionally formed around each of the company's top priorities. Those councils will focus on enterprise, service provider and emerging countries.

The changes will take place over the next 120 days, the company said.