Its tidal-wave effect on business is only now being felt in North America. The world is largely virgin. Cisco has a good shot at keeping its 70 percent or so domination of the gear that will run data networks worldwide. Its Internetwork Operating System has the same grip on that gear as Windows has on the desktop. Cisco keeps 20 cents of every dollar as profit, after tax.
Investors seem to recognize the railbuilder is still more valuable than the trains.
Cisco is trying to expand be yond selling equipment, to selling advice. It wants to counsel companies on creating commerce sites or running their operations on Web technologies. But if that's where Cisco is headed, then there's a company already there. John Chambers, meet Lou Gerstner. Without making many claims, IBM is on its way to becoming the definitive e-commerce company.