Cisco Chief Creates Posts To Address Concerns

Paul Mountford last week created two new executive positions to focus on service provider issues and emerging technologies, two areas in which Cisco partners have been asking for changes.

Bob Bruce, vice president of U.S. channels, has been named to the new post of vice president of worldwide service provider partners. Cisco has not yet named a replacement for Bruce.

Meanwhile, Cisco hired Edison Peres, a former channel vice president at Avaya, to the new post of vice president of emerging technologies for the worldwide channels group.

In his new role, Bruce will focus on building a service provider channel strategy. Many of Cisco's solution providers say they face fierce price competition from carriers, charging that carriers resell Cisco products at less than Cisco's cost.

Bill Yassinger, director of network solutions and services for Forsythe Technology, a Skokie, Ill.-based solution provider, said he was encouraged by Bruce's new job. "[Mountford has acknowledged that there is a problem and [that he has been listening to us," he said.

In an interview with CRN, Bruce said he has been working with service providers to establish a solutions ecosystem that includes Cisco and its solution provider and service provider partners. Cisco has encouraged carriers to work more closely with solution providers, he said, with the carriers providing managed services and solution providers providing end-user product sales and implementation.

Peres will focus on building an ecosystem of partners and ISVs to effectively sell and implement new Cisco technologies. His first efforts will be in IP telephony, storage and wireless, Cisco said.

Cisco partners said the training and staffing requirements for Cisco's specialization programs for emerging technologies make it difficult to compete with non-specialized partners.

But Cisco now plans to restrict access to some emerging technology product lines, allowing only those solution providers specialized in a technology to sell its products, Bruce said.

Meanwhile, Cisco last week posted net income of $660 million, or 9 cents per share for the second-quarter of 2002, vs. $874 million, or 12 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. Analysts had expected earnings of 5 cents per share. Cisco recorded second-quarter revenue of $4.8 billion, down 29 percent from $6.7 billion a year ago, but up 8 percent over the $4.4 billion for the first quarter of 2002.