N-GEN Communications Web-based Seminars ©NGCS

Seminar - An Overview of Communications Technologies

Module 6 - Internet, Intranet, Extranet, e-Commerce and Web Services                                      Slide 55 of 70 _________________                                                                                  __________

                           Case Study #4 - Cisco Systems Inc.

About the Company:    Cisco, headquartered in San Jose, California, is one of the major companies making communications and Internet equipment. Estimated 1996 revenues were $6 Billion.

Business:    Manufacturing communications equipment like routers, hubs and switches.

Challenges:    The growth in the Internet industry in 1995 created the opportunity to grow and the challenge to handle increasing business-to-business transactions from its direct business customers and resale partners. Most of the resources were used up processing customer orders. Cisco needed to change their business process and upgrade existing systems to handle the growth in their business.

Solution:  Cisco set-up an extranet to communicate with its customers and resale partners. Cisco developed Cisco Connection Online (COO), a business-to-business e-Commerce that allows its customers and direct resale partners to order from more than 12,000 Cisco products online and provide online support to all partners. A COO site included Sun Enterprise 5000 Servers, Netscape Commerce software and third party packages.

Applications:  Cisco Connection Online allowed Cisco partners the following applications:
                        - Configuring networking products
                        - Validating network
                        - Pricing out products
                        - Ordering products
                        - Checking status of orders
                        - Accessing invoices online
                        - Checking service order status
                        - Checking status of contracts
                        - Checking lead time on Cisco products

Revenues:      - $2 Billion (1995)
                         - $4 Billion (1996)
                         - $10 Million per year in incremental money from selling Cisco mugs and
                           T-shirts

Benefits: - Operational savings by automating the ordering process.
                 - Scalability to handle growth.
                 - Partners benefited by configuring, ordering and checking the status of their orders and
                   being part of the Cisco business process

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