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After its mixed earnings report last week, Cisco Systems Inc. is launching a major organizational reshuffle.
That’s according to reports published on Wednesday in The Information and CRN, which both cited an internal email attributed to David Goeckeler, Cisco’s executive vice president and general manager of networking and security. Goeckeler wrote in the memo that the changes are meant to “strongly position the company against our competitors.”
Cisco is merging its data center networking business with the enterprise networking group, which provides products such as security software and Wi-Fi access points. The combined unit will be headed by company veteran Scott Harrell. Harrell has been with Cisco for nearly 20 years, serving as senior vice president and general manager of enterprise networking for the past two.
The expanded networking group the executive is taking over faces a complicated road ahead. The revenue Cisco files under “Infrastructure Platforms” in its earnings reports fell 1%, to $7.45 billion, last quarter, even as its other major businesses all saw positive growth during the three-month period.
As part of the leaked reshuffle, the company is reportedly also folding its servers into the cloud computing business. Current cloud head Kip Compton will transition to a new role heading the networking and security group and the unit will move under the responsibility of Liz Centoni, Cisco’s senior vice president and general manager of its Internet of Things business.
Last but not least among the units reportedly involved in the reorganization is the service provider business. Current group head Jonathan Davidson will remain at the helm and also take over the company’s network orchestration products, which are currently the responsibility of the cloud computing business.
Cisco will make a related leadership changes to bring executive team in closer alignment with the new organizational structure. Roland Acra, the current senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Data Center unit, will become chief technology officer of engineering and chief architect.
Acra spoke to SiliconANGLE in January about Cisco’s technology roadmap. He touched upon its 2019 product development plans and provided a glimpse into the company’s longer-term technical vision as well.
“On the physical infrastructure side, we’re taking our switches to 400 gigabits per second… and when we’re done with 400, we’re already going to be asking about 800[Gbps],” Acra said, referring to an upcoming generation of ultra-fast networking technology currently on the drawing board. “And then security is a never finished journey, right? Because there’s an active actor trying to make you fail.”
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