Chambers leaving Cisco well placed for 2nd generation of Internet
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John Chambers, the outgoing chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco, likens himself to a proud parent who has seen his company grow and transform successfully while managing to stay on top of the market.
“We have a legacy at length as a company. We have been able to reinvent ourselves, not looking backwards but thinking to the future. It’s just like we want our kids to think to the future wherever they go,” he said.
The CEO expressed confidence that Cisco was well prepared for the advent of the “second generation of the Internet”, when the speed will become five to 10 times faster than at present.
“We are well positioned as an IT company. I like where we are. I like the way we transition over. I like the way we are in a very tough market,” he said, adding that the company is projected to make record revenues in the next quarter.
He was speaking to a small group of journalists from different regions last week on the sidelines of “Cisco Live 2015”, the US tech giant’s annual conference and trade show, held in San Diego from June 7 to 11.
Chambers, 65, will step down on July 26 after serving for 20 years at Cisco’s helm. He will be succeeded by Chuck Robbins, who is now senior vice president of worldwide field operations.
Chambers will become executive chairman of the company.
Under his leadership, Cisco’s revenues grew from US$1.2 billion to $47 billion (Bt1.58 trillion), and its workforce increased from 4,000 to 70,000 today.
The company is ranked number one or two in 16 markets.
However, in addition to good times, he has also led Cisco through difficult times, including massive lay-offs.
During his keynote speech given before a large gathering of participants at the San Diego Convention Centre last Monday, Chambers made a grim prediction that 40 per cent of businesses would not exist in the next 10 years due to the rapidly changing technological landscape.
And despite efforts by many businesses to survive in this digital age, he said as many as 70 per cent of them would fail.
Chambers had made many correct predictions before about IT. Twenty years ago, long before the times of social media and cloud computing, he famously predicted that one day devices would be connected to a network.
Friendly, eloquent and quick-witted, Chambers was the darling of the opening ceremony’s participants, many of whom asked to have their photos taken with him when he greeted audience members before delivering his speech.
He was joined by incoming CEO Robbins in the final part of the opening ceremony, when Chambers asked his successor about what to do next with the business.
Robbins said he would “digitise everything” and bring technology and business competitiveness together in order to grow further. “We are going to digitise the whole world,” said the next chief executive.
His successor also praised Chambers for what he had done. “John has changed the world in the last 20 years in many ways. He changed the industry. He changed a lot of our lives, of the people around the world, for the better,” he said.
