How Cisco’s transformation helped it recapture the market

Cisco Systems, a leader in the field of business communications, had seen better days. Last year at the company's Partner Summit in New Orleans, attendees could taste the desperation in the air, despite executives at the meeting boasting key metrics – market share, profit margins, roadmap numbers, etc. Nonetheless, employees and company insiders said the team felt cornered and partners could sense the underlying message, Channelnomics reports.

However, the company decided to address this issue by undergoing a Lean transformation, completely overhauling everything from culture to product offerings. A mere month later, the sweeping reorganization helped trim $1 billion from operating expenses and change Cisco's identity from a communications giant into a company with a nimble, highly targeted portfolio.

“[Cisco] has once again found its mojo in technology innovation, service delivery and partnership,” the news source notes. “The transformation is so complete, competitors no longer have an easy time poaching partners and deals from the Cisco forest.”

Channelnomics expects the company's swift and prosperous transformation to be the subject of its keynote address at this year's Partner Summit. Global channel chief Keith Goodwin and worldwide channel strategist Edison Peres will be speaking at the event, thanking partners for their continued support while highlighting how Cisco has returned to its position at the top of its industry thanks to the radical redevelopment of the company from the ground up.

Attendees may also be able to note the underlying message through the various panels held at the event.

“[These sessions] point to the transformative landscape Cisco wishes to paint behind its products. Cisco has been talking about applications of its technologies for years,” the news source adds. “What it’s beginning to do is contextualize the application of technology to a business-value outcome. That’s business transformation.”

Kaizen in the modern business world

The economic recession has placed a burden on many companies as they try to cut operating costs. For some of these businesses, the answer lies in streamlining production, switching suppliers, realigning departments or raising prices.

However, as Cisco showed, sometimes the best way to improve a business is by transforming the culture, starting with the individual and then permeating throughout the company as a whole. The economic recession has put a damper on many employees' spirits, so empowering these people could have a significant impact on company performance.