For Cisco, India is no longer all that special

Shift in leadership, loss of staff, changed reporting structures—too much is happening at Cisco India. But is this overhaul limited to Cisco? Or are tech MNCs at large rethinking their India plan?

Cisco has restructured Indian operations and has stated it won't be replacing the engineering head who quit last year

The reorg is Cisco’s way of telling India that it has no real autonomy despite India being its second headquarters

The idea of India as a globalisation centre didn't work, as customising products for a particular market did not make business sense

For most MNCs, when they set up in India, they were given a special status. But not anymore. Indian centres will have to earn their stripes

Reorganisation isn’t new to the tech multinational Cisco. It happened under its long-time CEO John Chambers and it is happening under its new CEO Chuck Robbins, although more swiftly, as he overhauls the business model itself.

Cisco makes network equipment like routers and switches and also the software to power them. These devices help in the transfer of information between devices that are part of a network. The company is now moving to a business where it is counting on software and subscription-based solutions to have a recurring revenue.

That means Cisco is doing away with some business, acquiring newer ones, changing reporting structures and letting people go.

AUTHOR

Arundhati Ramanathan

Arundhati is Bengaluru-based. She is interested in how people use money in the digital age and how new economies will take shape based on that interaction. She has spent over 10 years reporting and writing on various subjects. Previous stints were at Mint, Outlook Business and Reuters.

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