Shogun

The switching gear made by Cisco Systems tends to lurk in the deepest, darkest parts of data centers. It pushes information between servers and storage systems and funnels data out to the myriad networks that combine to form the Internet. When everything functions well, Cisco’s hardware lives in relative anonymity.

Over the last couple of years, however, Cisco has worked to get itself more directly onto workers’ desks. The company sells voice-over-Internet-protocol phones along with video conferencing systems. It also acquired WebEx for $3.2 billion in March 2007, adding an online meeting and collaboration software element to its arsenal, and purchased the e-mail and calendar software provider PostPath last month for $215 million.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/0...e-cubicles/?em