Enterprise IT at Cisco

Discussion Questions & Answers

1. How did Cisco find itself in such trouble with regard to its internal IT in 2001? Why didn't the single ERP system
help? Why didn't it ensure more consistency?

The trouble came from the redundancy and lack of common language mentioned above, in addition to an inability to
upgrade the ERP due to specialized tools by different business units
The single ERP system didnt help because groups would have specialized interfaces with the ERP that did not
link up with what other groups were using. Instead of consistency, the ERP brought about more customization
(focused on individual business units, not the company as a whole), in part due to a lack of centralized oversight as
well as the ERPs inability to meet all the needs of its users.

2. What is BPOC's role? How much formal authority does it have?

BPOCs (Business Process Operating Committee) role is to make decisions about companywide operational
policy, develop a framework for corporate business processes, integrate initiatives from different functions, and use
execution and accountability to enforce decisions. It also makes recommendations for IT spending allocation.
BPOC has little formal authority, but its composition of senior leaders helps to make sure that recommendations are
carried out.

3. Would you approve the call center project? Why or why not?

Yes. The call center project would improve the experiences of customers as well as the bottom line. Since it is believed
that the center would yield benefits to other functional areas, the project could be a potential way to demonstrate
the advantages of the newly centralized organization. There might be some reluctance at first, and the benefits may
take some time to be realized, but the results of the pilot study are encouraging, and customer satisfaction can be a
motivator across all functions.

4. .
5. What was Pete Solvik's approach to IT decision making at Cisco? Did he think that line managers should get to
make all IT decisions? If not, which ones did he want the IT functions to make, and which did he want the
business units to make?

Solviks approach to IT decision-making was primarily decentralized. Line organizations made the investment
decisions, but the execution of these decisions was by the centralized IT organization. The IT functions made
decisions about the overall infrastructure of the company (website, intranet), while the business units were able to
 choose the projects that seemed to be most valuable for them and fund them themselves. As a result, the IT
organization had to scale operations. IT also helped integrate acquired companies.
Solviks model appeared to work well in times of a boom, but when sales slowed, it became apparent that a
lack of centralization resulted in redundancy and an inability to communicate between business units.

6. Why did Boston pick the three big projects he did?

3 big projects: upgrading ERP, creating a standardized enterprise reporting and business intelligence solution, and
developing an e-customer initiative that would be a single source of truth.
Picked them because he realized that the data sources and infrastructure needed to be fixed, or the employees would
have a problem obtaining needed information. He also realized that unless these issues were fixed, future system
upgrades would consistently be a larger task than necessary.

7. What is 'Shadow IT'? Why should a CIO want to control / minimize it? Are there effective ways to do so? Do
you think Boston's amnesty program will work? Does it stand a good chance of uncovering all or most of
Cisco's shadow IT projects?

Shadow IT is using outside contractors for IT projects. A CIO should want to control/minimize it because it increases
risks to the company. There is less oversight by the company, and there could be security issues. Standards and best
practices could also be overlooked. A major effective way to control or minimize shadow IT is to make sure the
users needs are met by the organizations IT. That is an ideal solution, but increased centralized IT
oversight might help when it is not feasible to meet all needs. Bostons amnesty program may work to
uncover some of the shadow IT projects, but it depends on the buy-in of the employees. If the employees
do not believe in the path down which Boston is headed, they may not be willing to uncover shadow IT
projects. On the other hand, the support of the senior leaders might help in the effectiveness of the amnesty
program.

Submitted by: - Sidharath Vasudeva

Roll No. - 401487002

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