Businessweek

Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol (IP) based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry. The company’s products are installed at enterprise businesses, public institutions, telecommunications companies and other service providers, commercial businesses, and personal residences. In 2012, the company organized its business into the following three geographic segments: The Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. Products and Services The company’s products and technologies are grouped into the following categories: Switching, Next-Generation Network (NGN) Routing, Collaboration, Service Provider Video, Wireless, Security, Data Center, and Other Products. Switching The company’s switching products offer various forms of connectivity to end users, workstations, IP phones, access points, and servers and also function as aggregators on local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs). Its switching systems employ several widely used technologies, including Ethernet, Power over Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, Packet over Synchronous Optical Network, and Multiprotocol Label Switching. The company’s fixed-configuration switches are designed to provide a foundation for converged data, voice, and video services. They range from small, standalone switches to stackable models that function as a single, scalable switching unit. Modular switches are utilized by enterprise and service provider customers. These products offer flexibility and scalability for these customers, which due to their large-scale network demands often need to deploy concurrent intelligent networking services without degrading overall performance. Fixed-configuration and modular switches also include products, such as optics modules which are shared across multiple product platforms. NGN Routing The company’s NGN Routing products are designed to enhance the intelligence, security, reliability, scalability, and level of performance in the transmission of information and media-rich applications. It offers a range of routers, from core network infrastructure and mobile Internet network for service providers and enterprises to access routers for branch offices and for telecommuters and consumers at home. Service Provider Video The company’s end-to-end, digital video distribution systems and digital interactive set-top boxes enable service providers and content originators to deliver entertainment, information, and communication services to consumers and businesses. Main product areas within its Service Provider Video category are as follows: Set-Top Boxes: These include IP set-top boxes (both High-Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD)), digital cable set-top boxes (both HD and SD), Cable Modem CPE (Data, EMTA, and Gateways), Cable Modem Termination Systems Products, Videoscape Software Products, and Headend Equipment (Encoders, Decoders, and Transcoders). As of July 30, 2012, the company acquired NDS Group Limited (NDS), a provider of video content security and software solutions designed to enable users to intuitively view, search and navigate digital content. Its platform enables service providers and media companies to deliver next-generation entertainment experiences. Collaboration The company’s Collaboration portfolio integrates voice, video, data and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks across a range of devices and endpoints including mobile phones, tablets, desktop and laptop computers, and desktop virtualization clients. Main products areas within its Collaboration category are as follows: Unified Communications: These include IP phones, call center and messaging products, unified communications infrastructure products, and Web-based collaborative offerings (WebEx). Cisco TelePresence Systems The company expanded the WebEx family of products to include WebEx Social, a cloud-based enterprise social platform; WebEx Meetings, a meeting place with file and social networking capabilities; and WebEx TelePresence, a cloud-based offering provided as a se