Technology giant Cisco will appoint a new head to its India business.

Jeff White, who is the Vice-President for Cisco’s Service Provider Business in Asia-Pacific, Japan and China, will replace Naresh Wadhwa as the new President and Country Manager for India and SAARC region. Wadhwa, who had spent almost fifteen years in Cisco, left the company to start his own venture that will focus on infrastructure related to technology.

When contacted, a Cisco spokesperson said the company will not be able to confirm this development. On January 10, Cisco will announce a new leadership and a revamped focus for the India market, according to the spokesperson.

However, according to industry watchers, the last eighteen months has been turbulent for the networking major, which is seeing increased competition from the likes of HP and Dell. This has prompted Cisco to make these management changes.

This resulted in lower than expected profits in 2011 and as a cost-cutting measure, Cisco was forced to reduce annual expenses by $1 billion. Cisco does not give out India specific numbers, but according to its 2012 annual report, it spent 5.8 per cent less in R&D compared to 2011.

Further, another reason for this change in guard is to push R&D out of India, say industry watchers. “Cisco has lost significant ground when it comes to innovation and this has resulted in other competitors eating its marketshare,” said a senior executive from a Bangalore-based MNC. Another partner added that Cisco in the past few months has not been handholding companies to bag new deals from the Government and in newer sectors like broadcasting. “Also, in the last few months, we are getting 30 per cent lesser margins for selling Cisco equipment,” he said.

>venkatesh.ganesh@thehindu.co.in

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