![[Chambers pic]](/gif/1229chambers.gif)
Like Bill Gates and Eric Benhamou, John Chambers is a fixture on the 25 Most Powerful list.
And why not? Chambers' Cisco rules the network equipment business. It's the third leg of the so-called Wintelco - Windows (Microsoft), Intel Corp., Cisco - triumvirate that dominates the computing industry. Cisco's always been a fast-growth company, but Chambers seems able to keep the pedal to the metal even as the company gets bigger and bigger.
Like Gates, Chambers takes new challengers in stride. IP switching? No problem. Gigabit Ethernet? Ditto. New high-speed routers for the Internet?
Well, we'll see about that one. Rivals such as Nortel, Lucent and 3Com have invested in Juniper Networks, just one of the new crop of high-speed router start-ups that plans to challenge Cisco for control of the Internet backbone.
But this still is largely a paper threat, and if you've kept tabs on Ipsilon Networks, Inc., which came on strong in the IP switching arena a couple years ago, you know how quickly Cisco can react to a threat. Cisco continues to buy and build whatever it needs to keep its network portfolio current. The company is making a fairly smooth transition from routed networks to switched networks and, under Chambers' guidance, Cisco keeps building strong partnerships with key players. For example, Cisco is working with Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) to provide companies with mainframe-to-Internet/intranet integration through the EDS NetConnect program. Cisco also has partnered with Microsoft and KPMG Peat Marwick to expand the consultancy's network integration practice. That builds on an arrangement Cisco has to help Microsoft develop its Active Directory Services, and a joint Intel-Microsoft-Cisco effort, aimed at spurring development of multimedia applications.
Is Cisco untouchable? Hardly. The company faces threats from traditional rivals such as Bay, 3Com and Cabletron, as well as competition from the likes of Ascend, Nortel and Lucent. But if you have to pick a guide for a trip through the networking jungle ahead, Chambers would be a pretty good choice.
