Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Might Mouse

Controlled demolition is a thing.

That’s what is happening — and it takes “special types of leaders” to preside over such a process.

https://www.controlled-demolition.com/

Please take Ge0ecke!er back, we've had enough

Let the boat sink then those parasites who wipe their bottoms with left hands will move on to another mature American company.

Anything they do is just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

I think we can all agree at the very least the TAC needs to be reinvested in.

Cisco can't even build product features internally. IBM, HP, and Cisco are all in a managed decline.

The question is not who but what. Answer: closing

Right question should be: “What will save Cisco?”.

Answer is easy: Nothing.

There is no innovation or even a culture of it. Anyone who tries to present business case for a next-Gen tech becomes a target either to be pushed out or LRed. LC just talks rubbish at Cisco Live and my customers laugh at her afterwards. MM was another embarrassment who have now left with a golden parachute.

The company have been allowed to drift too long under the incompetent leadership of an ELT who are gutless and visionless. They also let the administration and management slide to the point where now psychotic SE directors and VPs have set up fiefdom across the company and ruling their roost like a mafia boss. Management by fear. Quality is driven out and that is what is causing so many highly competent, dedicated people to get either LRed or to quit.

Just go to LinkedIn and search for people who moved away from Cisco UKI since 2020, right after the current VP and Sr. Solutions Engineering Director grabbed power.

It won't be the employees constantly posting nonsense on LinkedIn instead of doing their job.

Agree with Token Ring Kid. Chuck needs to understand that these aren’t negotiable and are very talent dependent. I have worked in “CX” for almost 30 years. He and John sent too many people to “lead us” or “transition us” that were abject failures because they were learning on the job. Wim, Edzard, Maria, Ruba, Thimaya, Mala, Ana, Bryan, etc…. Look at who succeeded: Gary, Joe, Tom, Dillard, Marc, Scott C. You need high ethics leaders with cultural skills and deep service business chops. The clown show that you have sent in the past will not restore us.

Tom Brady.

Meraki.

I think there are a few things that Cisco could do to reclaim some swagger:

1> Unify/streamline the IOS/NXOS/etc software stream. Unify the syntax and features.
ONE software codebase for EVERYTHING.

2> Based on above, modularize that ONE software stream as a microservice options, running as containers. Customers can mix/match the containers based on the
features the NEED/WANT, or as can be supported based on the particular hardware constraints of a given network design.

3> Create STRAIGHTFORWARD licensing/subscription SKUs around those microservices.

4> THE BIG ONE: offer this new, modular, codebase as a resale option to COMPETITOR hardware platforms. This sounds shocking, but we all watched how Microsoft (eventually) offered their software to run on Mac platforms. Oh, how is Microsoft stock doing ?

5> REBUILD/RECREATE the Cisco TAC we all knew and loved and then create a new TAC support SKUs directly tied to those software microservice SKUs. MAKE TAC GREAT AGAIN !

This is my 2cents - I suggest this because I will always have a soft spot for Cisco in my heart, even though they broke my heart (that is another story).

Token Ring Kid

Looking across technology market leaders today (people, not companies); what named person would actually be interested in fixing this place?

It's been asked and never answered many times over many years.

What market driver (AI, etc), would actually drive a new senior leader to actually want to take the reigns at Cisco, to develop a company to address those needs?

Technology is a means to an end, not an end. You don't say "I have a NVIDIA card, what technology can I play with that does nothing for anyone." You say "what would help our customers solve business problems like improving network performance, flexibility, reliability, manageability and security." Only once you know what direction to go in do you explore how to integrate technologies to build those business level solutions.

There are niches of other companies now doing everything Cisco does, but better.

Cisco might have three boxes for the same task, running different operating systems, none of which are fully baked. Cisco teams have had some knock-down drag-out fights in front of customers over which of those boxes the customer should use based on what benefits Cisco, not the customer. Once fiefdoms form that serve individuals instead of a company you have fast moving cancers that are very difficult to destroy without taking out the whole body.

Use AI; buy the best! They won't be humans.

AI says to invest in numbers;

https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/cisco-plans-to-tech-a-ride-on-indias-digitisation-wagon/articleshow/107891027.cms

What's the name of the guy who saved the Titanic from sinking? Leonardo? He should do that for us.

Hopeless. Just hopeless. It's over now.