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By Julie
Bort
Network World,
12/24/01
What one hand giveth, the other taketh away.
Cisco's perch atop our annual Powerometer ranking of most
powerful network companies was short-lived. After handing the title to the
router king for the first time last year, the 250 Network World readers polled
for this sixth annual survey restored the honor to its near-perennial holder,
Microsoft.
But the match was so close that if our survey were a football
game, Microsoft's finish would have been the Hail Mary play of the week. The
software maker scored 77.2 compared to Cisco's 77 - practically a tie. Yet
even a virtual tie represents a significant loss of face for Cisco among users,
while Microsoft's power remains steady. Last year, Cisco earned a Powerometer
score of 81.5, compared with Microsoft's 77.5.
The change illustrates how Cisco, one of the emblems of
the New Economy (in its peak and crash) is no longer viewed as invincible.
While respondents acknowledged Cisco's weakened state in 2001, they said it
will rebound: 52% predict the company's power will rise in 2002.
Up-and-comers such as Alcatel are quickly slipping into
the space created by Cisco's power reduction. True, Alcatel and Cisco aren't
in the same league - Alcatel only ranked 22 out of 25. But its almost 9% year-to-year
increase was the biggest percentage jump on the survey.
Among telecom providers, AT&T landed first, at No.
8, down two notches from last year. Clearly, the carrier faces many challenges,
including its inability to stop incumbent local exchange carriers from gaining
long-distance nods. Verizon, understandably, is gobbling up influence
faster than a shark in a feeding frenzy. Its long-distance wins, charismatic
leaders and enormous wireless reach helped it earn the survey's biggest leap
in rank, a six-spot gain to No.12. (CEO Ivan Seidenberg made a huge leap up
the CEO Powerometer ranks, too.) BellSouth also jumped
the ranks - up four spots to No. 18 - in part because of its relative stability
during these rocky telecom times (still in the black), and also from the noise
it's making about long-distance, although it has yet to win any regulatory
approvals.
But long-distance isn't enough. SBC Communications, which
offers long-distance in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, still slid five spots.
Huge layoffs and the foundering, once-hyped DSL buildout, Project Pronto,
contributed to its shrunken stature.
Also understandably, telecom equipment manufacturers tanked.
Lucent, constantly troubled this year, lost the most influence. A 20% drop
in its score sunk it 14 spots to No. 23. Nortel lost 11%, dropping four spots
to No. 14.
But do-it-all hardware/software giants IBM and Hewlett-Packard
fared well. IBM in particular rushed for big yardage. On the strength of its
technology, IBM scampered up four spots to No. 4. Recently, readers named
its WebSphere servers, collocation facilities and network-attached storage
products best in class. And HP climbed
to No. 9 from No. 11. Besting both in gain is Network Associates, leaping
six spots to No. 10 on its strength in the white-hot security market.
Overall, despite the troubled economy, seven of the 25
Powerometer vendors gained power in 2001.
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