UPDATED 22:57 EDT / JUNE 06 2016

NEWS

Four top Cisco execs, collectively known as MPLS, leave the company

Cisco Systems Inc. announced a major organizational reshuffle last week that saw four of its leading names transferred to advisory roles within the company. One week later, all four have said they’re leaving the company for good.

The leaders said they decided to quit Cisco due to a “disconnect regarding roles, responsibilities and charter” following the announcement of a new business unit, according to an internal memo seen by the IDG News Service.

The four individuals, named as Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain, Luca Cafiero, and Soni Jiandani, were known by the acronym “MPLS” within the company. Under previous Cisco CEO John Chambers, the four held major roles within the company, starting a number of smaller firms with Cisco’s backing that the networking giant later absorbed. Those companies included storage outfit Andiamo Networks, data center switching firm Nuova Systems, and software-defined networking (SDN) provider Insieme Networks.

But despite their apparent influence within Cisco, the “MPLS” four decided to resign in the wake of the formation of a new Networking & Security Business Group, whose scope includes all of the firm’s routing, switching and security products, the WSJ reported. The new group is led by David Goeckeler, a 16-year Cisco veteran.

Mazzola, Jain, Cafiero and Jiandani all joined Cisco back in 1993 when the company purchased their ex-employer Crescendo Communications, a LAN switching vendor. That was Cisco’s first major acquisition, and the company would go on to acquire many more, including dozens of startups that were initially spearheaded by MPLS.

But it seems MPLS’ influence at Cisco has waned under the stewardship of new CEO Chuck Robbins. NetworkWorld reported last August that the four continued to report to Chambers (now Cisco’s chairman) even after he stepped down from the CEO role, which suggests they didn’t enjoy the same close relationship with the new top exec.

However, Robbins was quick to praise the outgoing executives in a statement released on Monday:

“I want to recognize Mario, Prem, Luca, and Soni for the countless contributions they have made to Cisco,” Robbins said. “I have personally learned so much from them, and they will always be an important part of Cisco’s engineering story. Their legacy will live on through our ongoing innovation and the talented engineering leaders they have mentored.”

The departures are just the latest in a series of high-level reshuffles amid Cisco’s executive leadership since Robbins took over the hot seat. Last March, Sanjiv Ahuja, leader of Cisco’s service-provider business, also announced he was leaving the company.

Image credit: Marcel via Flickr.com

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