WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT:

UNIT 7: INFORMATION SYSTEMS DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

Case Analysis on Cisco.

Master’s In Business Administration,

Cisco is a multinational corporation headquartered in the United States with well-known computer

networking products. Cisco is widely recognized as a global leader in internet networking, the company

was founded in 1984 by two Stanford University computer scientists looking for an easier way to

connect different types of computer systems.

Cisco Systems released its first product in 1986 and has since grown to become a multinational

corporation with over 35,000 employees in over 115 countries. Today, Cisco solutions serve as the

networking foundation for service providers, small and medium-sized businesses, and enterprise

customers such as corporations, government agencies, utilities, and educational institutions (Lewis,

2017).

Cisco networking solutions connect people, computing devices, and computer networks, allowing

people to access or transfer information regardless of time, location, or computer system type.

Cisco is the only company that can claim a "heritage" in an industry as young as global networking. Not

only does Cisco's systems handle 85 percent of Internet traffic, but we also use the Internet to run our

own business online, from product orders and inventory management to staff communications and travel

expenses (Lewis, 2017).

Cisco’s Subscription Billing Platform (SBP).

Cisco used to design using the systems development lifecycle (SDLC) and the waterfall method, which

is a step-by-step structured approach for system development with a clear upfront approach of what

software must do. The approach includes the following steps/phases: planning, systems analysis and

requirements, systems design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance (Gillis, 2019).

The major disadvantages that Cisco encountered when using SDLC in their subscription billing platform

were: SDLC, unexpected circumstances that may have arisen at the start of development would
complicate the system's development and lead to further complications. Complications would imply

more time spent on development as well as cost increases (Null, n.d.).

SDLC's development methods are not flexible, but rather rigid – quite impossible; Estimates of total

costs may become overly complex; Testing the system at the end of development may slow down

development teams, resulting in higher costs. Due to SDLC's many challenges in gaining a competitive

advantage, Cisco systems had to transition to the Agile development methodology. Cisco switched to

the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) (Pandey, n.d.).

The Agile Development methodology refers to a set of software development methodologies based on

iterative development, in which requirements and solutions emerge through collaboration among self-

organizing cross-functional teams. The Agile Manifesto serves as its foundation. It entails making small

changes with an emphasis on quality and attention to detail (Bourgois et al, 2019)

Cisco prioritizes speed of delivery to market solutions, accelerated innovation and innovative products

to market, improved productivity and efficiency of its delivery teams, and cost reduction to gain a

competitive advantage. As a result, Cisco was able to respond to market demands for new IT capabilities

and customer requirements more quickly, while also devoting more time to new innovations (Cisco,

2011).

Other advantages of adopting agile development included: rapid deployment of solutions, simplified and

quality solutions, improved project team collaboration, promotion of accountability among teams, and

enabling teams to manage themselves, improved employee satisfaction because employees did not have

to work after-hours, and employees saw how they fit into the larger picture.

Porter’s Five forces that are impacted by Agile Development

Cisco's Agile development has had an impact on the following forces, out of the five:
 • Threat of substitute products or services - As previously stated, Cisco systems handle

approximately 85% of global internet traffic. Cisco will benefit greatly from this. If Cisco had

continued with their waterfall model, their processes would have been too time consuming and

expensive to run, allowing more competitors to enter the market. Cisco currently dominates their

markets with innovative products and maintains a competitive advantage.

• Barriers to entry - With 85% of the market, it is difficult for competitors to enter the market,

giving Cisco an advantage in maintaining profitability and commanding product prices.

• Rivalry among existing competitors - With Cisco's market share, competitors face little

competition, ensuring Cisco's dominance.

• Customers' bargaining power - Customers are familiar with and understand the Cisco brand,

which has dominated the market for many years. Customers may not want to look to competitors

for alternative solutions because it is a well-known and trusted brand.

Agile development has an impact on the value chain as follows:

• Operations - enhanced product rollout with increased productivity and efficiency

• Outbound logistics entails getting products/solutions to market faster and more efficiently.

• Sales/marketing - 85% market share, user-friendliness Process of Subscription Billing.

• Service - after-market service and support have been significantly improved.

• Technology advancement - as time management in innovation improves significantly.

Cisco's adoption of Agile development yielded quantifiable results:

Moving to Agile development has resulted in significant gains in efficiency and competitive advantage

for Cisco, which was most likely the best plan for Cisco. The following are the findings asserted by

Pandey (n.d.):
Cisco improved significantly by implementing SAFe on two major projects; Defect rejection ratio, DRR

decreased by 16%; critical and major defects decreased by 40%, and defect removal efficiency, DRE

increased by 14%. Employee satisfaction was increased by eliminating the need for after-hours work

and reducing meetings/calls. There are 25% fewer quality assurance defects. Sprints that became more

efficient with each subsequent run

Bourgois, D.T., Smith, J.L., Wang, S., & Mortati, J. (2019, August 1). Information systems for business and beyond
(2019). Saylor
Foundation. https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=open-
textbooks. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.

Cisco. (2011). Agile product development at Cisco: collaborative, customer-centered software development.
https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/global/en_hk/solutions/collaboration/files/agile_product_development.p
df

Gillis, A.S. (2019, June). Systems development life cycle. Tech Target.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/systems-development-life-
cycle#:~:text=The%20systems%20development%20life%20cycle,technical%20and%20non%2Dtechnical%
20systems.

Lewis, R. (2022, December 15). Cisco systems. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/San-Jose-

Null, C. (n.d.). 10 companies killing it at scaling agile. TechBeacon. https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/10-

Pandey, A. (n.d.). Case study: Cisco. Scaled Agile. https://www.scaledagileframework.com/cisco-case-study/