Introduction

Cisco Systems, Inc. is a leader in networking for the Internet. The company, founded in 1984 by scientists from Stanford University, today employs more than 47,000 employees all over the world. All these years, it has been an active investor in start-ups. Since 1993, Cisco has acquired 108 companies. Cisco closed financial year 2005 (ending July 2005) with revenues of $24.8 billion.