Cisco CEO Race Hots Up As Two New Presidents Named

Networking giant Cisco has appointed two men as presidents, placing them firmly in line to replace John Chambers, who is widely expected to step down as CEO in the not-too-distant future.

Gary Moore (pictured right), the former CEO of network consulting company Netigy who previously led Cisco’s 10,000-strong services division, has been handed the president and chief operating officer roles. Moore also spent 26 years at Electronic Data Systems, where he played a major role in the creation of Hitachi Data Systems, of which he was president and CEO from 1989 to 1992.

Robert Lloyd (pictured left), who has been at Cisco for 17 years, has moved up to the president role for development and sales. He is also a member of the Cisco Executive Committee, which sets strategy for the vendor, and was previously executive vice president of worldwide operations and senior vice president for US, Canada and Japan.

Cisco CEO Race Hots Up

No one at Cisco is saying much about Chambers’ rumoured departure, however. It is believed he has lined up then candidates to succeed him.

Chambers has indicated he could retire in the next two to four years, having led Cisco since 1995, making him one of the true stalwarts of the IT industry.

“Cloud computing, mobility and Internet of everything are the most network-centric computing transitions that have ever been, and present Cisco with an opportunity to lead the communications and IT industry for the next decade,” the current CEO said in the wake of the executive shuffle.

“Today we’re evolving our organisation and developing our leadership team to grasp this opportunity.  We’re optimizing the alignment across development and sales, and on the top priorities of our customers, to maximize speed to market and our competitive advantage. “

As executives get promoted, others lower down are being let go by Cisco, as it attempts to claw its way back from a low and get more customers back from rivals like Huawei. In July, it announced a further 1300 jobs were to go as a result of restructuring.

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