2013 Best Companies: By Technology

Networking: Cisco

CEO: John Chambers

Cisco was judged by survey respondents to have the best networking technology, hands down, beating out a crowded market with nearly two-dozen players, including rivals Juniper Networks and Hewlett-Packard.

Cisco has aggressively moved into new technology areas such as cloud computing, software-defined networking (SDN), converged infrastructure and the Internet of Everything. Earlier this month, the company made headlines when it announced plans to acquire Insieme Networks in a move that's expected to boost the vendor's competitive position in SDN.