Here's the reason Alcatel is suing Cisco - their talent is voting for Cisco:
redherring.com
However, more than 67 defections from Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), Alcatel (NYSE: ALA), and Fujitsu have prompted each firm to sue Cisco, accusing it of hiring specific employees with the intent of stealing trade secrets from its competitors.
IT'S RAINING RÉSUMÉS
No matter what your opinion is of Cisco, the trend is a telling one. On the one hand, it shows Cisco can successfully entice talented folks because of its market momentum and surging stock prices. Indeed, its competitors must get sick of reading the reams of press about how well Cisco treats its employees.
On the other hand, as voice and data networks converge, Cisco and its telecom equipment competitors have begun to resemble one another more closely. Perhaps Cisco has been too aggressive about trying to look like its rivals, who dominate the core of the Internet long haul and public service telephone network (PSTN) infrastructure.
Whether Cisco is scheming to take employees for their proprietary knowledge, and not just for their general talents, is an issue for the courts to decide. But while each case is going on, telling details trickle out about the competitive climate in the networking business. Indeed, competitors have a healthy sense of dread when Cisco comes to town. |
