How Cisco’s Infrastructure Platform Performed in Fiscal 1Q18

Revenue fell 4% YoY in fiscal 1Q18

Cisco (CSCO) now has five reporting segments: Infrastructure Platforms, Applications, Security, Other Products, and Services. The Infrastructure Platform business consists of core networking offerings, including switching, NGN routing, wireless, and data center. It reported revenue of $6.97 billion in fiscal 1Q18, a fall of 4% YoY (year-over-year) compared to revenue of $7.3 billion in 1Q17. This segment is Cisco’s largest business, and it accounted for over 57% of total revenue in 1Q18.

Cisco launched “The Network. Intuitive.” in June 2017, which is an intent-based networking platform built on Cisco’s DNA (digital network architecture). It provides customers with insights and business intelligence.

Adoption of the Catalyst 9000

Cisco’s new subscription-based Switching platform was adopted by over 1,100 customers in 1Q18, and the firm expects this momentum to continue in fiscal 2018. Cisco’s next-generation data-switching platforms also performed well, driven by a shift towards 10F, 40G, and 100G architectures and multi-cloud adoption.

Cisco’s software release of ACI (application-centric infrastructure) helped the company advance its Internet-based networking for data center as well as private cloud environments. Cisco has over 4,000 ACI customers who have benefitted from an improvement in business agility achieved through network automation and security.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins stated, “We see a tremendous opportunity to benefit from a shift in customer demand from standalone products to integrated platforms, with our intent-based infrastructure portfolio providing unmatched benefits.”