In Cisco’s case, the company’s bread-and-butter products—routers, switches, and the like—pump much of the data that courses through the Internet, feeding both business and individual needs. While the company was created in 1984 and became a powerhouse in just a few years, it was largely unknown to the average consumer until the dot-com explosion, which produced so many customers that it became worthwhile to reach potential decision-makers in a variety of ways. For example, how many CIOs and other IT personnel of newly formed dot coms could potentially be among those watching a major football game on TV? A significant number, apparently.

Even in the wake of the many dot coms that became waterlogged and went under during the past three years, it’s clear that the Internet wasn’t just a passing fad. Its arrival as a ubiquitous part of our lives means that increasing numbers of small businesses and average consumers have become part of Cisco’s customer base as well. Both market segments find themselves adding extra computers, whether for new employees or for family members who want to surf the web simultaneously, which has driven the demand for simpler networking products that even a non-techie can set up.

In fact, sales to small and medium businesses accounted for approximately 20 to 30 percent of Cisco’s US$ 18.878 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that ended in July 2003. While the late 1990s and early 2000s saw an explosion in big computer networks as companies upgraded their infrastructures or simply set them up for the first time, the next several years will likely see a huge jump in small networks, thanks to the ability of Wi-Fi to share a single broadband connection with several computers without the need to drill holes or run Ethernet cables. The future for Cisco looks very bright indeed.

While Cisco (the name simply came from a shortened version of San Francisco, which lies north of its headquarters) owns roughly 42 percent of the market for networking products, it still faces stiff competition from the likes of Nortel Networks and Extreme Networks in the corporate arena and NETGEAR and D-Link in the small/home office market. However, the company can rely heavily on the fact that it was among the first to stake out its particular product niche, thus giving it a cachet that latecomers can’t equal. This is especially true of sales to decision makers with technical know-how: their education likely put them in contact with plenty of Cisco products (the company offers training certificates, of course, and it has a large collegiate presence), and their colleagues probably praise the company as well, which often makes it the default choice for network installations and upgrades.

Consumers and small business owners with little technical expertise, however, are a tougher audience to win over, given their lack of prior experience with the brand. That’s where the company’s broad advertising strategy and expanding market presence through the purchase of Linksys come into play: By simply placing its name in front of consumers with ads on programming that they’ll watch and in magazines that they’ll read, and by latching onto a leader in the burgeoning Wi-Fi market, Cisco assures decisions of the “Oh, I’ve heard of them; I’ll purchase this one.” variety that come about when someone looks at a shelf full of products that all seem the same.

Cisco also helps its cause with an advertising tagline that resonates: “This is the power of the network. Now.” Whether a decision-maker is in charge of a large IT staff or is simply hooking a DSL connection to a Wi-Fi router so that the kids can surf the web in the next room, this simple statement actually sums up the company’s nearly 20-year history neatly and succinctly. Whether you’re talking about Chuck Hedrick of Rutgers University, who was one of Cisco’s first customers and who understood the importance of computer networks in the early 1980s, or someone who just graduated from college and is about to get her first job and first apartment, they both know what that statement means and how it applies to them.

While Cisco can’t expect future sales to match the incredible run-up during the dot-com boom, it can certainly expect its brand name to remain at the forefront of the networking business no matter whom it’s selling to. As John Chambers, the company’s President and CEO, remarked once: “It’s not the big that beat the small, but the fast that beat the slow.” The Linksys purchase shows that Cisco can quickly react to emerging markets. As long as the company shows that kind of responsiveness and willingness to adapt, there’s no reason why it won’t someday be thought of as a giant of the technology era, the same way we look at the industrial pioneers of 100 years ago today. The trick will be whether or not it’s considered a relic, the way we currently regard many of those pioneers.

Brad Cook is a freelance writer based in northern CA. He has published over 120 articles in a variety of print and online media since 1995.