Although Cisco Systems Inc says its purchase of Fast Ethernet pioneer Grand Junction Networks Inc for $348m in shares will fill a hole in its product portfolio, this time in the area of switching to the desktop, the decision to buy the company appears to be more of a time-to-market issue. Indeed, this accusation is tacitly admitted by Cisco president and chief executive John Chambers who commented that the company’s customers are migrating from shared hubs to desktop switches faster than we anticipated. Indeed, the statement that it plugs a switching gap seems a slightly peculiar justification, since its acquisition of Kalpana Inc for $203.8m last year provided it with workgroup switching technology that should be adaptable for the desktop. As well as swit ching, the company also gets Fremont, California-based Grand Junction’s Fast Ethernet technologies, including its FastSwitch switches and CollisionFree full-duplex Fast Ethernet technology. Grand Junction will be run as the desktop division of Cisco’s Workgroup Business Unit. It is as yet unclear whether any of Grand Junction’s 85 staff will be made redundant, or what product line rationalisations will take place.
