Supply Chain Issues Are Accelerating the Software and Services Pivot

Cisco has publicly touted its efforts to become a software and services company.

“When I took over [in 2015], basically we sold technology products, and customers bought them and integrated them. And now we have a $17-18 billion dollar run rate software business,” CEO Chuck Robbins said at Cisco Live. “We have a solutions that have cloud management with a piece of hardware on-prem, on-prem license software and pure SaaS solutions. We’re trying to provide our customers exceptional choice, however they’re going to consume it.”

Berger said this pivot fits with both the larger industry as well as the supply chain problems.

“The market’s been moving that way for a few years. I think with the supply chain constraints, Cisco has to kind of focus on software and managed services right now. That’s what actually can ship today,” he said.