Cisco deal maker and chief strategy officer Ned Hooper, who brought Tandberg, WebEx, Scientific-Atlantic, Starent and NDS into the fold and administered Cisco\u2019s $2 billion venture fund, is leaving. <\/p>\n
According to a blog posting Tuesday by CEO John Chambers and COO Gary Moore, Hooper\u2019s going to start \u201can independent investment partnership company and pursue his goal to be a principal investor.\u201d <\/p>\n
Apparently \u201cNed has been working on his plan with us over a number of months, and we look forward to partnering with him in his new endeavor.\u201d <\/p>\n
That removes Chambers\u2019 heir-presumptive since Chambers has no intention of retiring. Chambers has been deconstructing the un-agile bureaucratic management edifice he built. <\/p>\n
With Hooper out, Cisco is going to give CTO Padmasree Warrior his job and simply expand her CTO role, making her responsible for determining Cisco\u2019s strategy, investments and acquisitions. <\/p>\n
Business Insider says \u201cshe\u2019s not been considered CEO material. She\u2019s mostly worked as part of a team, and it\u2019s hard to pinpoint any big Cisco successes directly on her.\u201d <\/p>\n
The company has also put Pankaj Patel, who developed Cisco\u2019s service provider business, which now accounts for ~35% of the company\u2019s direct product revenue, in charge of engineering. <\/p>\n