Cisco Systems

The companies on this annual list make a conscious effort to be supportive, inclusive workplaces.

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<p>Employees say:</p><p>"Cisco makes an effort to find new positions for employees if they lose their jobs, including employing a vendor to provide resume and career counseling services. We have great EROs with a lot of participation and top-notch speakers. I'm encouraged to take training and attend industry conferences. I'm paid above the average for my position in my state. The emphasis on giving back through volunteering or donations is excellent, especially the Cisco matching policy. I have a lot of flexibility in where and what hours I work. The technology I'm provided is excellent."</p>

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Cisco Systems Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

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Cisco Systems | Fortune

Cisco Systems Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings | Fortune

Cisco Systems has appeared on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 25 years running. This is the second year in a row it's held the top spot.

A focus on culture keeps Cisco atop 100 Best Companies list

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Cisco Systems has appeared on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 25 years running. 

I think culture is the main reason that people consider Cisco a great place to work. It's not something that's necessarily owned just by an executive or by our Ceo it's owned by all of the employees at Cisco and I think that's part of what makes it great. Every individual I think comes into the company with a different set of needs. We love to see that 96% of our people are happy to work here and are having a good experience, but I think there's a foundation of trust and meeting the needs of our people that I see in that number, which is exciting at Cisco. We have this thing called conscious Culture and I remember showing, I'm like, what does that mean? But I'm intrigued. What does it mean? It's this idea that culture isn't just this amorphous thing that just happens to you. Culture is something that we all have a part in creating, We have weekly check ins with all of our employees where they share with us, not only what their main priorities are, but the things that they loved about their week, the things that they loathed about their week and what help they need from their leader when our people are engaged when they feel valued when they feel like they belong in turn the way in which they show up to their work is with a lot more innovation and creativity. It's not just about culture fit, but it's also about culture ad, but like to build on that a little bit, it's I'm gonna make a food analogy if that's all right. I like to cook. So like culture fit would be, let's say you're making this really great gooey mac and cheese, but you fit all those cheeses into one type of substance that will be culture fit. Whereas Culture ad is like if you're making a gumbo and you really wanna preserve the goodness of all the individual ingredients and still be able to kind of see them for the individual that they are, but it still comes together nicely to actually be 11 dish. I'm hungry too. Clearly, I think with our careers in the past we've only thought about one path. What we try to do is really give people a broad set of opportunities and options and to demonstrate that this is how careers can work. Our flex program at Cisco is one of the great ways that we bring talent into our people in communities. Organization flex stands for find lead, explore. And so within the flex program, the participants have the chance to explore three roles at 9-12 months each and within those roles also run strategic projects together as a community. They're learning from one another. Uh there's a tremendous amount of focus on their development as well and then being able to say, I love doing this. I never want to do that again, I think it's an important part of our journey and I think the flex program is a very strategic investment for us and talent that will be running this place one day. So Marcus is actually a great example of our flex program, of someone who's come in and completely embraced the idea of one company many careers and has allowed himself to do many different rotations, learning many different areas of our business in the flex program, you get to kind of choose your own adventure as we call it. And so I've had the benefit and the blessing of able to choose that adventure. I think part of what makes this a great place to work for me is I don't I don't have to negotiate which parts of my blackness or my queerness. I need to leave the door before I come to work. And so that experience, I feel like I'm having, I can see others having their own version of that. So, coming to Cisco, I've been able to kind of peel back the layers you put on to be able to kind of play the game and I think that unlocks bandwidth. So if I'm not worried about how I'm showing up to you in all the ways of like, of how you cover yourself to play the corporate game. I'm able to actually to have access to other parts of my brain around creativity. I hope I hope I'm better leader because of it. You do want to be a great place to work for all you want to make sure that every voice is heard, you want to make sure that people feel like they belong. And then you have to ensure that as a company, you're creating the programs, um, to really break some of the systems that have historically created an exclusionary approach. When I think about, um, whether our goal is to be the number one place to work, I would actually say that it shouldn't be. Um, I think our goal should be to listen to our people to understand where the business is going to think about how we can serve our communities. And my belief is when we do those things, we end up potentially being a number one company.

Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins sits down with Fortune CEO Alan Murray at the Fortune Global 500 Summit.

Fortune Global 500 Summit: A conversation with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins

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A conversation with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins

I'm joined now by chuck, Robbins. Ceo of Cisco chuck, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us today. Alan it's always a pleasure to see you. It's great to be here today. So, so you said in your investor day presentation that every customer you talked to says digital transformation is accelerating. We've got these big new technologies out there cloud five G, the internet of things, machine learning, completely changing the business landscape. Can you talk about what that means for Cisco and what it means for business more broadly? Yeah. Alan it is it's incredible what we've seen as we've come out the other side and at various stages, obviously around the world relative to getting through this pandemic. But companies all around the world know that we're gonna get to the other side or they just know they're going to have to operate in a consistent uh, Siri timeframe of uncertainty. And so we've seen every customer around the world focused on modernizing their technology infrastructure. They're all re architect in their applications to be more cloud friendly. They're all looking at security differently than they have in the past and they're all focused on hybrid work and how they enable hybrid work going forward. And they're very adaptable way. And so technologies like five G wifi six, the 400 gig transition, hybrid cloud that you mentioned, all of these are major transitions that are going on IOT. Uh and these are all driving the need to continue investing in technology and I think the other thing that we saw during the pandemic was that every ceo see xo around the world, every government leader got up close and personal to the technology and they realize how powerful it is and what it can do for their organizations. So they're giving their teams to go ahead to just keep moving leveraging technology for all the key differentiators that they want for the future. And as the guy at the top of the company uh speaking to other people who run companies, how does that change the way you lied? What how does that rapid pace of digital transfer information affect leadership? I think it requires you to embrace team developed strategy. The first and foremost, there was there was a time where one individual could set the strategy for an organization and I just don't think that's possible anymore. It's too complicated. It's moving too fast and so you really need to spend a lot of time together. My team and I spend more time together today than we did five years ago because of the complexity of what we're trying to accomplish and what our customers are trying to do. So I think that's the first thing. Second thing is you just have to fundamentally innovate faster and you have to probably move with less information and less facts than you would normally and you have to make decisions and adjust on the fly much more so than you would have in the past. And I think the other thing that's super important right now is that we have to work with our teams to ensure that everything we're doing has security built in from the very beginning. Uh It's just such a critical aspect of everything we do. Uh And so those are just some of the areas that I think are different today based on the speed at which things are moving. And those are, those are very big differences. So you're moving Cisco from a business of selling equipment to one of software and really from sales to subscriptions. Why are those big shifts important? Well, we're making the shift to more software in our portfolio for sure. We are also still building incredible high performance hardware and some of the best hardware in silicon in the business because the internet needs high performance hardware in silicon. But the reality is is that if you can solve a problem or you can help a customer attack an opportunity through software you can just move faster. And if software is adequate, then we wanted to focus on software. It allows us to innovate faster, provide more new functionality. Uh It's easier for customers to deal with. It allows us to deliver it from the cloud which allows us to do continuous innovation and all those platforms. And also for a company that gives us more predictability in our business model which is also nice and our shareholders like it. So it's been a uh it's been a great move for us our fiscal year that we just ended 44% of our revenue came from subscriptions, which was up significantly from 56 years ago And we had, you know, we exited four with a $16 billion dollars software run rate. So we've, the team has done a great job Subscriptions, now, five or six years ago, less than 10. It was less than 20 for sure, less than 20. Um, uh, so chuck another thing about your company and congratulations for this. Uh, in 2021, you were at the very top of Fortune's 100 best companies to work for list. I'd love to know what your secret is, but also why it's so important to you to be on that list and be high on that list. Well, I'm, I'm incredibly proud of our team because we actually topped that list two years in a row. And it's a real honor. And I think it's reflective of, you know, it's, it's a, uh, an honor that comes from our employees feedback in this survey. And I think it's reflective of the fact that employees want to work for companies who have a well defined purpose that they not only talk about, but they truly believe in and their actions follow that purpose. And in 2019 we launched a new purpose as an organization which is to power an inclusive future for all. And we believe that that's done through our technology through the beliefs and who we are as an organization and candidly our community actions and countries all around the world. And so I think our employees are really proud of that. I'd say the other thing we do is we communicate frequently transparently and authentically and we are honest with our teams about all sorts of complex issues and so it's, I don't know, it's a combination of those things, but I'm really proud of what the team's done and uh, and you know, we're really happy about the, the honor and thank you for Yeah, well, congratulations on that. You've also made a big commitment to sustainability. How how does that fit into the equation? Well, our teams have been leading this charge for years back in 2000 and 2005, 6 in there, we actually made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% I think by 2020 or something in that neighborhood. And the teams were on track to do that. So we believe that it's super important. It's important for the world. I mean, this is a, it's very clear that the climate change is real, the disasters that we're seeing all around the world. And so as companies, we all need to do our part. So we announced, you know, net, zero scope one and two by 2025 scope 12 and three by 2040. And the other thing I would say is that not only is it a good thing to do for Cisco, it's a good thing to do for the climate, it's actually going to be a business driver for us because you mentioned iot earlier and a lot of the initiatives that are being driven around sustainability are going to be enabled by connecting industrial systems so that we can then automate them, make them more efficient, uh make them, you know, enable them to use less energy. So it's all very connected. Yeah. You're speaking to a chinese audience, you made a significant acquisition in china this year. So the chinese market is obviously important to you. But you also know that we're in this odd uh political period and we're seeing a decoupling of technology businesses in the U. S. And in china. Um and the possibility of different regulatory regimes, different rules, different standards, different fundamental technologies. Well, how do you view that and is decoupling a good thing or a bad thing? Well, first of all I wish I could be there in person because it's one of my favorite places to visit. And I look forward to a time where we can actually get out and visit China again. Uh look, we've been in China for 30 years. We've been invested in driving education and and our community service actions. So we're very committed to China. I believe that the world is a better place when U. S. And china have stable relations and we're working towards, you know something that's positive, we may have disagreements but I really believe the global economy is better off when we're actually working together. And so what we want to do is continue to be an example of a U. S. Company that can try to help navigate the complex world that we live in. Because I don't think decoupling is is the right thing. And I think we've seen some of the issues associated with that over the last year and I just think they're generally negative. You're you're speaking to a group that's gathered to celebrate the fortune. Global 500 list but also to share best practices on how to build great companies. You've clearly done that at Cisco and on on any metric what's your advice to the group? What's the secret to building a great company that will last for the long haul. You know, I I think some of the some of the things that you have to do our our old mantra is related to business and it really starts with the people on the team. I mean it is so important to get the right team in place because when you get the right team then they'll get the right teams and they'll get the right teams and you end up with a great group of people that are very motivated. But I will say in today's world purpose matters purpose matters to your employees and I'll also say that communication matters. Our employees want to hear from me. They want to hear what we stand for as a company. They want to hear our position on complex topics. And it's not always easy. But I think that's another key aspect of building a great company out. That's great. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today and sharing your wisdom. Always a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

[ MUSIC ] Welcome to Fortune Tech Debate where we debate the issues of the day. Today we are talking about app dynamics and the companies almost ipo. Let's have two minutes on the clock. [ SOUND ] Alright Bob go. Okay, so Cisco just came in at the eleventh hour at the very last minute down to the wire and Put down $ 3. 7 billion on the table to acquire app dynamics, which was supposed to IPO. Which is crazy, they're supposed to be public today, and they announced the deal last night. I mean, this was really at the very last moment that it could've possibly happened. And I think this is a bad deal for investors. Why? Wait, how is that possible? I mean, Investors, the venture investors, some of them made a hundred times their money on this deal. That is That's a lot. An obscene return. It returned their entire fund. That's a lot of x's. A fantastic deal for venture investors. Definitely for the people who were investing in App Dynamics. But here's what I have to say about that. Okay. The public markets have not had a chance So they put their money inside a tech company, it's such a long time. There was so much pent up demand for this, and AppDynamics was gonna be the first tech IP of 2017, after a long drought of not having these companies not go public in 2016. It was actually a missed opportunity for them. Why do companies not wanna go public though? It's because it is a pain, you have to do quarterly earnings reports. Your stock is gonna be very volatile, especially in a Trump administration when there's nothing but uncertainty out there. This means- [ UNKNOWN ] They can live safely under the umbrella of a giant corporation and they probably won't even have their earnings broken out. So no one will really know if they're growing or not or if they're profitable. And they can just innovate away. Yeah but look, these private companies, and they've got these private investors, and everybody's giving them crazy valuations. These unicorn companies that are worth a billion dollars or more. Nobody knows how to adequately price them. Everybody's ideas about them are so just, insane And there needs to be some grounding in reality .>> It's true .>> And the way to do that is by going on a public exchange .>> OK I agree with you. I would love more transparency. But I'm wondering if maybe we're talking about all the unicorn's or so over value. Really the value is really only what someone's willing to pay for it. And I think this is maybe proof that the unicorns are under valued. If Cisco was willing to come in and nearly double the companies stock of the companies value that it was gonna go public at. Maybe these companies are worth even more. Well, Cisco's done it before, they're probably gonna do it again. All right, we are out of time. Thank you for watching. For more Tech Debate, come to Fortune. com. [ MUSIC ]

Is this acquisition better than the company going to public?

Cisco Acquired AppDynamics for $3.7 Billion at the Last Minute

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Chuck, you've been talking a lot about innovation and the need for Cisco to reinvent itself. What do you want the new Cisco to be? Cisco is going to be the most strategic partner for our customers and for Countries around the world as they take advantage of this digital revolution that's occurring. That's what our vision is and we're already in the midst of doing that. And it sounds like you're trying to move away from the hardware business model and networking equipment and moving more into software and subscription services. Tell us about that. Well, there's a big Internet out there that still requires high- performance hardware, so we won't be moving away from hardware. That's really just a fundamental foundation to what we need. However, more and more of the capabilities that we deliver will be through software. And that's why our customers wanna procure our technologies and frankly it's how our shareholders would like to see our business evolve. So the good news is that all our constituents wanna see us moving in the same direction. And you have been talking a lot about the Internet of things. Yes. You made an acquisition, you bought a company in this area that connects cars with the internet, why is this so important for Cisco? There's going to be massive connectivity and our costumers are going to fundamentally change their business models by the insights that they can gain from these new connections. So we're at the heart of connectivity, we're at the heart of convergence and we're now at the heart of helping our customers derive that value so that's really important to us. But you are shifting, Cisco is shifting into a new direction. How will you measure that you're on the right track? Well, we look at it from the perspective of obviously our business results but really, how do our customers believe we are helping them make this transition? And how are we relative to their view of us as a strategic partner to them? Wether we are helping an automotive company derive value from a connected vehicle or we're an elevator company Derived value from connecting those elevators. We really view it based on how they perceive us relative to our importance to their overall business strategy. You know, you talk a lot about innovation and what we hear from every company, big or small, is the need for speed, being agile, and getting ahead of the competition and you're facing a lot of Competitors whether it's Amazon or some surprising new up- and- coming company in Silicon Valley. How is Cisco gonna stay ahead of this competition? What we've begun to do lately is we've created this internal startup mentality inside the company. So we've created many startups inside of Cisco and then you have to be willing to disrupt yourself honestly if There are areas of our business that we're having to take in completely different way that in a perfect world may not be exactly how we want to do it. But we're going to move in that direction because that's where the market is going. And what i believe is that as we see these transitions happening in the marketplace, when we embrace them and then we're able to drive our unique value, we actually can deliver On innovation in areas that others can't. So I'm very confident in our ability to stay ahead. So Chuck, what will people be saying about Cisco five years from now? How relevant will it be? Well, I think what they're gonna say is that Cisco was the early company that really understood what internet of things, internet of everything, digitization really meant. We've been at This for almost a decade with smart cities and smart stadiums, and changing the fan experience. And I think, five years from now, they're gonna say, CISCO truly helped transform almost every industry in this next wave of technology evolution. And really help our customers, and countries around the world derive the value that can be had. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

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