Development in ICT and strategic opportunities offered for competitive Essay

Development in ICT and strategic opportunities offered for competitive advantage in organisations - Essay Example Founded in 1984 by Leonard Bosack and sandy Lemer, a husband and wife team of academics from Stanford University, as a means of sending data between computers. Cisco has grown to be the company that, according to David Stauffer in Business the Cisco Way, is the company that makes the Internet. Cisco's networking products are designed to connect people, computing devices and computer networks, allowing access or information transfer regardless of differences in time, place or type of computer system. Cisco provides end-to-end networking solutions that customers use to build their own unified information infrastructure or to connect to and outside network. And end-to-end networking solution is defined as one that provides a common architecture that delivers consistent network services to all users. The broader the range of network services, the more capabilities a network can provide to users connected to it and thus the more effective it is. Large organisations with complex networking needs, spanning multiple locations and with many types of computer systems. Such customers include major corporations, government agencies, pan-governmental organisations, public utilities and educational institutions. Cisco operates in over 115 countries using a direct sales force, distributors, value-added resellers and system integrators. The company is headquartered in San Jose, CA. With major operations in Research Triangle Park, NC, and Chelmsford, MA; as well more than 225 sales and support offices in 75 countries. As a company that is in tune with the individual needs of its customers Cisco does not take a rigid, product-led approach that favours one particular solution regardless of the fit with customer requirements. Cisco's philosophy is to listen to customer needs and then develop solutions for discussion to ensure that those needs are met- a customer driven approach. Cisco's strategy: This high-tech company has the strategy of being a one-stop shopping provider of networking equipment. Operating models include a well-honed model for acquiring