HomeSpotlight Page 4 - Bull's Eye Awards: Chief Executives of the Year
2009 was one of the most wrenching and challenging years in history to run a business. As CEO, the pressure was on, but as you’ll see with our Bull’s Eye CEOs of the Year, they were each up to the challenge. Not one of them circled the wagons and stopped investing in the future – and each recognized the significance of the channel. But only one could be the ultimate champion. Read on to find out who is the winner.
Bull's Eye Awards: Chief Executives of the Year - CHAMPION
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John Chambers
Cisco sure decided to mix things up in 2009. A traditional networking
company entering an unfamiliar blade server market at the beginning of
the new year shocked the industry. More so, Cisco’s entrance into the
conventional rack server market several months later really threw down
the gauntlet.
But
the fact is that savvy CEO John Chambers has embraced the concept of
data center convergence, from his push into unified communications to
the foray into a server market now dominated by the likes of
competitors HP and IBM. Chambers, the Champion for our Bull’s Eye CEO
of the Year, is a smart, aggressive leader, acquisitive when he
identifies a company or technology he believes will further Cisco’s
goals and also willing to grow the company organically when that route
is more fitting.
This past year, Chambers made no bones about expanding Cisco’s reach
beyond its comfort zone. In addition to the server play, Chambers
presided over Cisco’s efforts to define the unified communications
market and as part of that enable partners to sell into these more
sophisticated and ultimately higher-margin opportunities. Collaborative
solutions that span voice, data, video and other solutions require
partners to sharpen their business acumen and solutions sales
technique. Cisco, under Chambers’ direction, has recognized that and
worked on enablement practices that drive partners toward training and
specializations that will focus their practices and allow them to see
profitability in this new domain.
Cisco routinely puts on the model partner conference each year; in
fact its Velocity event captured the Bull’s Eye Partner Conference of
the Year Champion award this year. Chambers doesn’t skip it, and in
addition to being the marquee speaker each year he spends time off the
stage rubbing elbows with partners and talking to them about real
issues that affect their businesses and relationship to Cisco.
Keeping a sharp eye on where the future of the industry is headed,
then enabling the partner base needed to help drive you there is the
mark of a true champion.
But
the fact is that savvy CEO John Chambers has embraced the concept of
data center convergence, from his push into unified communications to
the foray into a server market now dominated by the likes of
competitors HP and IBM. Chambers, the Champion for our Bull’s Eye CEO
of the Year, is a smart, aggressive leader, acquisitive when he
identifies a company or technology he believes will further Cisco’s
goals and also willing to grow the company organically when that route
is more fitting.
