VoiceCon Wireless and Mobility track planner - Michael Finneran, seems none too impressed with Cisco's definitive agreement to acquire Starent Networks in his recent No Jitter post:
Cisco Acquires Starent; No Movement on "Motion"
Finneran was particularly harsh on Cisco Motion, saying that since its launch back in May 2008, Cisco Motion architecture has been devalued to "marketecture."
However, it certainly appeared to me that Finneran was really venting his pent-up frustration at Cisco's much ballyhooed new management structure:
"Watching Cisco, you get the feeling that they have so many things going on that nothing is getting done. Certainly we don't see much meaningful collaboration between the WLAN and UC groups, and outside of rah-rah talks from Mr. Chambers, wireless is a disconnect."
Interestingly, a new story in The New York Times is calling into question the "lack of wealth" that's NOT being created for Cisco shareholders via the acquisitions made by John Chambers:
Assessing Cisco’s Growth Strategy
"John T. Chambers, chief executive of the networking giant Cisco Systems, is keeping the acquisition machine humming. It’s too bad this strategy hasn’t quite paid off for shareholders recently. The record suggests that Starent’s shareholders have gotten the better end of the stick. They are being offered a 21 percent premium to relinquish control. Cisco’s shareholders, on the other hand, have seen the value of their stock decline by roughly a third over the last decade, despite — or perhaps partly because of — its prolific deal-making. It might be time for Cisco to slow the M&A machine and prove that it works."
What's your take, do you agree with Michael Finneran, is Cisco wireless a disconnect?
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