Networking vendor strategy and competition and their impact on enterprise network design and implementation
Name
85811929-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
12.68 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
deff23231b96d7c88aee3cb88d5f7828
Author(s)
Fung, Ray
Advisor(s)
David Simchi-Levi and Michael Cusumano.
Date Issued
2006
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
While a significant amount of literature exists that discuss platform strategies used by general IT vendors, less of it has to do with corporate networking technology vendors specifically. However, many of the same strategic principles that are used to analyze general IT vendors can also be used to analyze networking vendors. This paper extends the platform model that was developed by Michael Cusumano and Annabel Gawer to networking vendors, outlining the unique strategic aspects that the networking market possesses. The paper then reviews the strategy of the first dominant corporate datacom vendor, IBM, how it achieved its dominance, and how it lost it. The paper then discusses the strategies of various vendors who attempted to replace IBM as the dominant networking platform vendor and how they failed to do so. Finally, the paper discusses Cisco Systems, a vendor who did manage to achieve a level of dominance that parallels IBM's, and how that company has utilized its strategy to achieve and maintain its current dominance. Finally, Cisco's current strategic challenges are discussed. The impact of the strategies of the various vendors on the evolution of corporate networking is also discussed.
Description
Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-99).
Subjects
Sloan School of Management.
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Leaders for Manufacturing Program.
MIT Department
Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
