????交換機(jī)和路由器是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的基石，作為這類設(shè)備的供應(yīng)商，思科系統(tǒng)公司（Cisco Systems）在搭建互聯(lián)網(wǎng)方面發(fā)揮了至關(guān)重要的作用。隨著互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的發(fā)展，思科已步入中年，而其標(biāo)志性產(chǎn)品也已日趨同質(zhì)化。為了抵御競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，思科正努力尋找新的增長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)。

????如今，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)結(jié)構(gòu)在很大程度上復(fù)雜了很多。交換機(jī)和路由器這類核心網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備曾是思科公司的主業(yè)，而如今它們大都已淪為大路貨，而一些更復(fù)雜的任務(wù)——控制動(dòng)態(tài)數(shù)據(jù)流量則由運(yùn)行在硬件之上的軟件管理著。因此，隨著瞻博（Juniper）等公司加入競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，思科在網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備市場(chǎng)的份額不斷下降。2011年4月，思科首席執(zhí)行官約翰·錢伯斯在致全球員工的備忘錄中承認(rèn)思科缺乏重點(diǎn)。錢伯斯坦承：“人們都說(shuō)面對(duì)擴(kuò)張，思科需要更加自律。我贊同這種說(shuō)法?！?/p>

????雖然思科已經(jīng)成功進(jìn)入高端網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備市場(chǎng)，但它在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域的表現(xiàn)日漸低迷：路由器和交換機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)貢獻(xiàn)了思科62%的營(yíng)收，但最近的一個(gè)季度，這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)的營(yíng)收同比下滑了2%。不過(guò)，在其它領(lǐng)域，思科的表現(xiàn)仍然可圈可點(diǎn)：視頻服務(wù)營(yíng)收上漲了30%，無(wú)線及數(shù)據(jù)中心的營(yíng)收則分別上漲了38%和61%。但這三大業(yè)務(wù)合計(jì)只貢獻(xiàn)了思科22%的營(yíng)收。

????思科最初的舉動(dòng)是曲線救國(guó)，分頭挺進(jìn)多個(gè)以個(gè)人用戶為導(dǎo)向的網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)領(lǐng)域。早在幾年前，思科就開(kāi)始銷售機(jī)頂盒、Linksys系列家用WiFi路由器和Flip攝像機(jī)。然而，事實(shí)證明，這項(xiàng)舉措并不明智，而思科也隨后出售了機(jī)頂盒業(yè)務(wù)。隨著智能手機(jī)攝像頭的日益普及，F(xiàn)lip業(yè)務(wù)也被迫關(guān)門大吉。

????最近，思科展示了更具野心的目標(biāo)——從世界一流的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)通信公司轉(zhuǎn)型為一流的IT公司。首席執(zhí)行官約翰·錢伯斯在本月的營(yíng)收電話會(huì)議上表示：“最重要的是，我們?cè)谙騃T領(lǐng)域進(jìn)軍。成為IT霸主是我們最為重要和夢(mèng)寐以求的目標(biāo)。時(shí)間會(huì)證明我們能否實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)，但我們對(duì)目前總體市場(chǎng)狀況感到滿意?！?/p>

????As a purveyor of switches and routers that form the Web's backbone, Cisco Systems?is responsible for building the Internet. Perhaps more so than any other company. But as the Internet evolves, Cisco has entered a kind of middle age, struggling to find new areas of growth as it fends off competitors in a market where its signature products have become commoditized.

????The Internet's networking structure has largely become much more sophisticated. The core networking gear of switches and routers that was Cisco's (CSCO)?bread and butter for years has largely become a commodity, while some of the more complex tasks of controlling the dynamic flow of data is managed by?software running on top of the hardware.?As a result, Cisco has lost some of its share of the networking-gear market as companies like Juniper have offered more competition. In an April 2011?memo to Cisco staff, Chambers acknowledged the lack of focus. Chambers said candidly, "Many say that in the face of this expansion, Cisco needs more discipline. I agree."

????Cisco has pushed into higher-end networking equipment, but its overall business in these areas is declining: Both switches and routers, which make up 62% of the company's total revenue, declined 2% in the most recent quarter from the year-ago period.?Other areas Cisco has moved into, in contrast, are doing much better: Service video is up 30%, wireless revenue is up 38% and data center revenue is up 61%. Together, these three segments account for only 22% of Cisco's total revenue.

????Cisco's initial response was to make a detour into more consumer-oriented networking technologies. Several years ago, began selling set-top boxes, Linksys home WiFi routers and theFlip video camera. That detour proved largely ill-advised, and Cisco sold off its set-top boxes and folded up its Flip business as smartphone cameras proved increasingly popular.

????More recently, Cisco has embarked on an even more aggressive goal -- transitioning from the top Internet communications company in the world to becoming the top IT company in the world.?"Bottomline, we're starting to?become an IT player," CEO John Chambers said in Cisco's earnings conference call this month. "It's an important aspirational goal for us to become the number one IT player. Time will tell if we can do that or not, but we like what we're seeing in the market overall."