3 Things Cisco's New CEO Chuck Robbins Needs to Focus on

As Cisco transitions from long-time CEO John Chambers to Chuck Robbins, here are three important goals for the networking leader's new era.

Last week, Cisco has made history, in a way: for the first time in 80 quarters, a person other than John Chambers took the report quarterly earnings.

Although on July 27 was the official approval of the torch Mr. Chambers Chuck Robbins, for me the earnings report was more symbolic given the highly public nature of the event, especially in light of the position of Cisco as a benchmark for industry.

Now that the reins were handed over, I would offer some tips Mr. Robbins as he looks to take Cisco to the next level. If you have read any of my posts in the past, it is no secret that I was a fan of John Chambers. Under his leadership, Cisco has become the company it is today and literally changed the way "work, live, learn and play."

However, the current market is changing faster than ever, and the Robbins Cisco Wizard must be different from Chambers took one. In this last blog entry I mentioned that my favorite cameras-ism is asked three things Cisco could do better. So, although it did not ask Chuck Robbins, here are three things that Cisco could do better.

Approach IT through the lens of the Network:

Chambers has made it clear that one of the goals is to be the number 1. Cisco IT Currently, when the term "IT" is tossed around, companies like HP, Dell and IBM are the ones that come to mind for a long IT strategies were built in computer and storage products.

To combat this, Cisco said that the growth of your server platform, UCS, as proof of their "fitness". However, I think it's a mistake, how it is changing. Cloud, mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT) are all models of IT network-centric, that is, the network is growing in importance and traditional is becoming less important.

I think the best strategy Robbins is to be patient and let the market come to Cisco, instead of trying to overcome the IT HP and IBM at its own game. Think of it this way - like IBM solves business problems through solutions-oriented computing, Cisco must focus on solving business problems through network solutions-oriented. You become the No. 1 supplier in our power, but must be done through the lens of the network.

Be More Aggressive in Market Development:

Somewhere, over the past five years, Cisco allows competition to define a market before he raised his head and spoke. Fabrics network, software-defined networking, and even elements of collaboration are examples of this. Other providers got the jump, the market is defined, and Cisco had to play ball or (cloth) or try to redefine (SDN vs. ACI), none of which network is simple.

Cisco would like to see more aggressive with new technologies and the use of his position as a market leader in networking for the definition of markets, rather than letting new companies and competitors do.

Expand the Open Cisco:

Historically, Cisco has been hit by competition to be closed and proprietary. However, in recent years, Cisco has adopted the concept of opening and of some of its products are among the industry's most open. For example, Cisco SDN platform, ACI, is designed to be open, and the result is an ecosystem that is a real -that which data center, which includes the likes of VMware, F5, Citrix, VCE, and Microsoft the others.

Security is another area open meant a broader ecosystem, including Lancope and Radware. I understand why marketers think they are open creates a risk to your business, but it has been proven time and again that is open is a good thing, as long as the seller has quality products.

I would look at Cisco use this open throughout its product strategy, and see its ecosystem of technology providers become even bigger.By the way, I'm happy to see which version of Cisco Robbins turns, but I think the three points are crucial for the company to the next level.