Cisco Systems today announced its new Wi-Fi 7 access points. During the main keynote at Cisco Live APJC in Melbourne, Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Security Business Group, introduced the products and mentioned that Cisco’s goal with the new APs is to give its customers the ability to “solve for their connectivity, security and assurance challenges while also providing a flexible foundation to future-proof their workplaces.”
Cisco Systems Inc. provided positive numbers in its fiscal fourth-quarter results Wednesday, and there’s a story behind those numbers. The networking giant posted a modest revenue beat of $13.64 billion, $100 million more than consensus estimates. Gross margin, boosted by the acquisition of Splunk Inc., came in at a whopping 67.5%, the highest number for Cisco in 20 years. Product order growth rose 14% year over year, 6% excluding Splunk.
The network continues to grow in importance as a strategic business asset. A recent joint study between ZK Research and The Cube Research found that 93% of organizations felt the network was more critical to business operations than two years ago. At the same time, 80% of respondents believe the network has grown in complexity in that same time frame. The continuation of these two trends will lead to an untenable situation.
Cisco Live was held last week in what has become my second home, Las Vegas. I had dubbed this the most important Cisco Live in the Chuck Robbins era, as the company is looking to put a stake in the artificial intelligence ground. Simultaneously, Cisco Systems Inc. is integrating its Splunk acquisitions and reshaping the security business in real time. For most companies, doing one of these things would be all-encompassing, but these are not typical times.
The 2024 edition of Cisco Systems Inc.’s global user event Cisco Live is particularly important, as artificial intelligence has redefined networking, security, observability and collaboration. The fundamental tenet of my research is that share shifts happen when markets transition, putting the incumbent vendors at risk if they don’t evolve with the industry. In the past, Cisco has leveraged market transitions to grow its share in switching, voice-over-internet-protocol, Wi-Fi, security and other areas.