Cisco Systems History

Two Stanford computer scientists founded Cisco Systems, Inc. and the company was looking to implement ERP owing to the regular outages that was affecting the brand name and functioning of the company. This mega project was eventually a great success and the team did a great job to ensure that timelines were adhered to and budgets were not stretched. There were a number of factors that contributed to the success of the plan, some of which were because of smart execution and some of which were because Cisco was simply lucky.

Firstly, tying up with a renowned name like KPMG was imperative because their job was to form a base for the project i.e. the selection and implementation of the solution chosen by Cisco. This would require heavy technical skills and business knowledge. They also put in their top personnel on the project and were extremely determined to work with Cisco on their implementation of ERP. Secondly, selection of Oracle was extremely critical because they had the necessary manufacturing capability, they promised long term development functionality in the package and lastly they were located close by fostering flexibility. They were extremely keen on the project because Cisco would be the first company to implement their new ERP product, and if it went off well, it would launch the new release in a favorable trajectory. Also, having Cisco as one of their clients would be a great reference point for Oracle. This is an automatic motivating factor for Oracle to perform. It is generally observed that a team that is highly motivated tends to work harder towards achieving the goal and would make two ends meet. Thirdly, setting up of the steering committee was vital to enable the top management to focus on their role as visionaries and motivators instead of focusing on the day-to-day management of the project. When this is not clearly segregated, it often hampers the performance of the project because the team would want to focus on what the top management feel is right rather than working on their ideas towards achieving the goal. The executive steering committee comprised of top-level executives from Cisco, KPMG and Oracle that instilled a sense of importance among the team working on the project. Fourthly, the capacity package was very well selected. The contract signed by Cisco promised capability rather than a specific configuration. So expenses relating to the capability of the hardware were to be borne by the hardware vendor. It is surprising that the hardware vendor agreed to the terms put forth by Cisco, however, I believe this was a well drafted contract which acted as a safety net for the company. Lastly, implementing the Conference Room Pilots (CRP) was extremely important because that is where the team built on previous work to develop a deeper understanding of the actual system. This is where the system was used and tested and