10 Ways For Cisco to Get Its Mojo Back
1. Forget About Financials For A WhileAs a public company, Cisco is obviously concerned about its future financial performance. And it fully understands that without proper revenue and profit gains, its stock price will plummet. But it can’t worry about that for now. It needs to think about its future and determine what is really best for its operation. If it can do that and follow through on its plans, it can turn its operation around.
No Title
2. Stop the Buying SpreeFor years now, Cisco has been buying up companies at an astounding rate. It has acquired Pure Digital for video, the set-top box business of DVN for cable efforts, ExtendMedia for video content, and many more. It has spent billions of dollars for products that, at times, fall outside its core competencies. And it’s a mistake.
No Title
3. Forget the FlipAlthough many people don’t know it, Cisco owns the Flip HD video camera line. It acquired the company back in 2009 when it bought Pure Digital Technologies for $590 million. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. But Flip camcorders aren’t the future of Cisco’s business. They’re also not part of its core competencies. Cisco should sell of the Flip division and focus on more pressing operations.
No Title
4. Ditch the Cisco CiusIt likely won’t happen, but Cisco should consider ditching its Cius tablet. Yes, the company is focusing on the enterprise with the device and it promises several important corporate-focused attributes, including integrating into existing Cisco products, but it could get lost in the tablet market. Not to mention, Research In Motion will soon be launching an enterprise-focused tablet of its own. The tablet space is crowded and companies like Apple, RIM, and even Motorola seem to understand it quite well.
No Title
5. Umi Is Dead. Period.When Cisco came up with the idea to deliver a video-conferencing platform for the home, some wondered what the company was thinking. It’s quite possible they still are. Umi needs to be forgotten entirely. Cisco needs to realize it was a bad idea and move away. Video conferencing in the home is fine, but paying hundreds of dollars to do it just doesn’t make any sense. It’s time Cisco realizes that.
No Title
6. Abandon Consumers AltogetherIf there is anything Cisco can glean from the last few slides, it’s that the company should be forgetting about the consumer market altogether. For years, Cisco has been a top enterprise-focused firm. And it has proven that it fully understands what needs to be done in today’s corporate marketplace. It should embrace that. And realize that the enterprise is its cash cow and its future.
No Title
7. Focus On HPHP is getting more serious than ever about taking Cisco on. The company recently acquired 3COM to compete more effectively against Cisco in the networking business. HP has faced some missteps of its own over the years, but its acquisition of 3COM seems to make a lot of sense. Realizing that, Cisco needs to worry a bit more about HP. It won’t knock it off the networking mountain just yet, but it could happen sooner than some at Cisco believe if it doesn’t pay any attention to HP’s efforts.
No Title
8. Think Seriously About the EnterpriseAs mentioned, Cisco needs to stop worrying so much about consumers and get back to focusing its efforts on the enterprise. But a key component in that is also that the company must think seriously about what the corporate world needs right now. Does it need that tablet? Does it need better networking technologies? Determining what the corporate world needs and delivering that is where Cisco needs to direct its focus.
No Title
9. It’s About Delivering Value to CustomersWhen it’s all said and done, Cisco needs to remember to deliver value to its customers. The corporate world works with the firm that offers the best products at the best price with the best prospect of improved productivity. The company delivering the best value proposition will reign supreme. And right now, at least, Cisco seems distracted. It needs to get back to the reality that value is more important than anything.
No Title
10. Be CiscoIn the end, Cisco should go back to being, well, Cisco. The company became such an important force in the corporate world because of all the fantastic products and services. But over the past few years, it has lost its way. But if it can go back to being Cisco, showing that it still knows what enterprise customers are after, it can be an outright success once again. Cisco, it’s time to be Cisco. The time has come.