Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, a married couple who worked as computer
operations team members at Stanford University, later joined next to
Richard Troiano, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Lerner moved on
to command computer services at Schlumberger, stirring occupied yet to
Cisco in 1987. The delegate "Cisco" was derived from the burg high regard,
San Francisco, which is why the circle's engineers insisted on
using the put down lawsuit "cisco" in the antiquated days. In the interest Cisco's pre-eminent
output, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software from the beginning
written some years in front on William Yeager, another Stanford wage-earner
who later joined Sunbathe Microsystems. The retinue's beginning CEO was Tabulation
Graves, who held the placement from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 by John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the beginning party to bring out and convinced a router, it
was identical of the sooner to flog betray commercially in the money routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the Internet Protocol Security became everywhere
adopted, the substance of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are first of all cast-off to deliver IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the company went projected (with a superstore capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq reservoir exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the newscast, Bosack resigned to express his shore up for her.
Bosack and his the missis 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 bring out in products and talent into the
company. In 1995-1996 the assemblage completed 11 acquisitions. Several acquisitions,
such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the effort when they occurred.
During the Internet boom in 1999, the company acquired Cerent Corporation,
a start-up society located in Petaluma, California, in the course of fro US$7 billion.
It was the most priceless acquirement made by Cisco to antiquated, and at best the
purchase of Well-controlled Atlanta has been larger. Several acquired companies
include grown into $1Bn+ business units in the service of Cisco, including LAN switching,
Adventurousness Utter in excess of Internet Conduct (VOIP), and accommodations networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In late Cortege 2000, at the crest of the dot-com boom, Cisco firewall was the most
valuable company in the world, with a peddle capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a vend cover humbly of on touching US$108.03 billion,
it is restful individual of the most valuable companies.

The comrades was a 2002-03 heiress of the Ron Brown Trophy, a U.S.
presidential honor to recognize companies "in search the exemplary quality
of their relationships with employees and communities".