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 direct linux ppt at Schlumberger, compelling full yet to
Cisco in 1987. The big name "Cisco" was derived from the city entitle,
San Francisco, which is why the presence's engineers insisted on
using the put down case "cisco" in the near the start days. Instead of Cisco's first
output, Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software from the beginning
written some years in front sooner than William Yeager, another Stanford worker
who later joined Brown Microsystems. The retinue's beginning CEO was Bill
Graves, who held the position from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, John Morgridge
was appointed CEO, and succeeded in 1995 past John Chambers.

While Cisco was not the original company to evolve and convinced a router, it
was identical of the first to peddle commercially well-heeled routers supporting
multiple network protocols. As the ip Docs became greatly
adopted, the importance of multi-protocol routing declined. Today, Cisco's
largest routers are especially reach-me-down to yield IP packets.

On February 16 1990, the assemblage went projected (with a market capitalization
of $224 million) and was listed on the Nasdaq reservoir exchange. On August 28, 1990,
Lerner was fired; upon hearing the announcement, Bosack resigned to conduct his reinforce for her.
Bosack and his partner walked away from Cisco with $170 million, 70% of which was
committed to charities. The two later divorced.

Cisco acquired a medley of companies to bring in products and proclivity into the
company. In 1995-1996 the convention completed 11 acquisitions. Divers acquisitions,
such as Stratacom, were the biggest deals in the work when they occurred.
During the Internet prosperity in 1999, the performers acquired Cerent Corporation,
a start-up firm located in Petaluma, California, for on every side US$7 billion.
It was the most high-priced procurement made nearby Cisco to date, and simply the
purchase of Scientific Atlanta has been larger. Dissimilar acquired companies
include grown into $1Bn+ responsibility units in the service of Cisco, including LAN switching,
Eagerness Voice as a remainder Internet Protocol (VOIP), and home networking. Cisco
acquired Linksys in 2003.

In late Cortege 2000, at the crest of the dot-com bang, Cisco router was the most
valuable company in the existence, with a peddle capitalization of more than
US$500 billion. In July 2009, with a vend lid of about US$108.03 billion,
it is pacify individual of the most valuable companies.

The company was a 2002-03 recipient of the Ron Brown Prize, a U.S.
presidential honor to accept companies "an eye to the meritorious blue blood
of their relationships with employees and communities".