Networking giant's Development Council willl drive Cisco's strategy going forward

Cisco's executive vice president and chief development officer, Charles Giancarlo, has resigned in order to pursue new professional opportunities.

Earlier this month, under Giancarlo´s leadership, Cisco reorganized its Development Organization and established the Development Council, chartered with driving and delivering more focused and integrated products and solutions to customers. The Development Council will now report directly to chairman and chief executive John Chambers and will be responsible for the overall engineering, product and technology strategy for the company and executing against Cisco´s technology goals and priorities.

"Charlie has been a close colleague and a good friend during the 14 years he has been at Cisco, and he has made many significant contributions to the company during that time," said Chambers. "He has built a seasoned management team that has the strength and skills to execute against our technology vision in order to capture growth opportunities and market share. Cisco is very proud to have had Charlie as one of its leaders, and he will always be considered part of Cisco´s extended family."

Chambers continued: "Cisco´s prioritization on collaboration and developing new business models is driving the company´s organization, cultural, global and business approach. As we build Cisco into a next-generation company, we will transition from a company that is driven from command and control to one that is built on teamwork and collaboration. The Development Council is one example of how this new structure will drive collaboration to effectively address market opportunities, drive efficiency and quality, and foster innovation."

During Giancarlo´s tenure at Cisco, he has been responsible for a number of key accomplishments. After joining Cisco through the acquisition of Kalpana, a pioneer in ethernet switching, Giancarlo started Cisco´s business development organization and developed Cisco´s successful MÀstrategy. He initiated and then led Cisco´s small and medium business activities including contributing to the development of Cisco´s channel strategy. Giancarlo also initiated and led a large number of Cisco´s advanced and emerging technologies including unified communications, home networking, wireless networking, security, video, and telePresence, among many others, said the vendor.