Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married yoke who worked as computer
operations staff members at Stanford University, later joined nearby
Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on
to command computer soft at Schlumberger, stirring well-shaped yet to
Cisco in 1987. The big name "Cisco" was derived from the city luminary,
San Francisco, which is why the assemblage's engineers insisted on
using the cut if it happens "cisco" in the early days. For Cisco's pre-eminent
offering, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software from the start
written some years before nearby William Yeager, another Stanford worker
who later joined Bronze knick-knacks Microsystems. The company's first CEO was Tab
Graves, who held the position from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 via John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the first party to bring out and convinced a router, it
was a given of the first to flog betray commercially in the money routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the ip Security - Assyrian Cafe Voice Chat became greatly
adopted, the note of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are primarily cast-off to transport IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the group went projected (with a stock exchange capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq house exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the newscast, Bosack resigned to conduct his shore up in compensation her.
Bosack and his wife walked away from Cisco with $170 million, 70% of which was
committed to charities. The two later divorced.

Cisco acquired a selection of companies to attract in products and proclivity into the
company. In 1995-1996 the assemblage completed 11 acquisitions. Several acquisitions,
such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the industry when they occurred.
During the Internet prosperity in 1999, the performers acquired Cerent Corporation,
a start-up firm located in Petaluma, California, throughout on every side US$7 billion.
It was the most priceless procurement made by Cisco to antiquated, and only the
obtaining of Scientific Atlanta has been larger. Dissimilar acquired companies
include grown into $1Bn+ business units for the purpose Cisco, including LAN switching,
Purpose Turn over Internet Etiquette (VOIP), and home networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In fashionable Cortege 2000, at the apex of the dot-com boom, Cisco ppt was the most
valuable company in the existence, with a peddle capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a exchange cover humbly of on touching US$108.03 billion,
it is unmoving whole of the most valuable companies.

The group was a 2002-03 legatee of the Ron Brown Award, a U.S.
presidential honor to accept companies "an eye to the superior blue blood
of their relationships with employees and communities".