In the early 1980’s Len & Sandy Bosack, a married couple used to work in different computer departments at Stanford University was having trouble to communicate with their individual systems so they created a gateway server in their living room that made them to communicate with two computers using the IP protocol. In 1984, they founded Cisco Systems with a small commercial gateway server product which changed the Networking forever. In 1992 the company name was changed to Cisco Systems, Inc.
The first product the company marketed was called the Advanced Gateway Server (AGS). Then they introduced Mid-Range Gateway Server (MGS), the Compact Gateway Server (CGS), the Integrated Gateway Server (IGS), and the AGS+. Cisco calls these “the old alphabet soup products.” In 1993, Cisco came out with the amazing 4000 router and then created the even more amazing 7000, 2000, and 3000 series routers. These are still around and evolving (almost daily, it seems).
Cisco has since become an unrivaled worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Its networking solutions can easily connect users who work from diverse devices on disparate networks. Cisco products make it simple for people to access and transfer information without regard to differences in time, place, or platform.
Cisco provides end-to-end networking solutions that customers can use to build an efficient, unified information infrastructure of their own or to connect to someone else’s. This is an important piece in the networking–industry puzzle because a common architecture that delivers consistent network services to all users. Because Cisco Systems offers such a broad range of networking and Internet services and capabilities, users needing regular access to their local network or the Internet can do so unhindered, making Cisco’s wares indispensable.
Cisco answers this need with a wide range of hardware products that form information networks using the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) software. This software provides network services, paving the way for networked technical support and professional services to maintain and optimize all network operations.
Along with the Cisco IOS, one of the services Cisco created to help support the vast amount of hardware it has engineered is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) program, which was designed specifically to equip people to effectively manage the vast quantity of installed Cisco networks.
However, having a fabulous product line isn’t all it takes to guarantee the huge success that Cisco enjoys—lots of companies with great products are now defunct. If you have complicated products designed to solve complicated problems, you need knowledgeable people who are fully capable of Systems but the paper got ripped on the way to the installing, managing, and troubleshooting them.
That part isn’t easy, so Cisco began the CCIE program to equip people to support these complicated networks. This program, known colloquially as the Doctorate of Networking, has also been very successful, primarily due to its extreme difficulty. Cisco continuously monitors the program, changing it as it sees fit, to make sure that it remains pertinent and accurately reflects the demands of today’s internetworking business environments. Building upon the highly successful CCIE program, CiscoCareer Certifications permit you to become certified at various levels of technical proficiency, spanning the disciplines of network design and support.