Cisco Case

4/18/06 Cisco Case Questions Ian McFarlane

1) Cisco's Business and Market

a) Cisco's main products are IP-based technology used to make phone calls over the Internet.

b) Companies use Cisco's products as Internet backbone routers that are specifically designed for service providers. The IT department buys the products.

c) The backgrounds of the individuals that buy, install, and maintain Cisco's equipment have many years of experience in the computer industry such as IBM, and Apple.

d) The company has been successful because they now dominate the "Internetworking" market and in 1997, they ranked in the top five companies in return on revenues and return on assets. They also overtook Microsoft as the most valuable business on earth with a market cap of $531 billion.

2) IT Infrastructure

a) The enterprise system that was implemented was 100% UNIX at the server level, 100% Windows NT at the LAN level, 100% Windows Toshiba and HP PCs at the client level, 100% Oracle at the database level, and 100% TCP/IP for the worldwide network.

b) 100% UNIX at the server level, 100% Windows NT at the LAN level, 100% Windows Toshiba and HP PCs at the client level, 100% Oracle at the database level, and 100% TCP/IP for the worldwide network.

c) This was a good set of choices because Windows is used buy a lot of companies as well as consumers and is probably the most popular suite used globally.

3) The CRM approach

a) The customer service that was provided to the customers was a comprehensive, web-based, online resource for information and networked applications. Customers relied on Cisco.com to answer questions, diagnose network problems, and provide solutions and expert assistance worldwide.

b) Orders could be placed via the World Wide Web from anywhere in the world. Customers also had access to software upgrades 90% of the time.

c) The technologies needed for the customers to access these applications are just access to the internet. This approached worked extremely well because it was convenient and lets the customer be hands on with what they are purchasing.

4) The SCM approach

a) The