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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: craig crawford who wrote (11586)	1/15/1998 9:35:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 77400

Yankee Group rankings and analysis of the top 150 companies in technology: What makes a company important? Do we care if two or three Deutsche Morgan Grenfell analysts are conveniently slobbering over a company that DMG's investment bankers took public 45 days ago? Hell, DMG analysts slobber over anything. We only drool if our largest end users have determined the company is worthy of being included among their do-or-die applications. If so, that vendor is gaining momentum. Acquire enough momentum, and you're blessed by the gods and get to keynote at Comdex; get too much momentum, and you crash and burn. The gods have a weird sense of humor. That's what this list is all about. upside.com Upside Downside 1998: Communications Equipment January 12, 1997 By Howard Anderson Networks grow in three ways: They add users, add devices, or add complexity and speed. Most corporations now have five separate networks, each growing at different rates: big voice networks at 3 percent per employee each year; systems network architecture networks, a big, flat market now susceptible to Internet protocol switching; the client/server network at 35 percent a year; the international network at 18 percent a year; and the Internet/intranet at 12 percent a month! Shared media networks will fade. They're a cheap, workable and appropriate midterm solution, but users are getting demanding and want pipes dedicated just to them. Gigabit Ethernet, Token Ring and other shared pipes will yield to asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Fibre Channel and virtual private lines. The Companies and How They Stack Up Companies rated out of a perfect score of five. Cisco Systems Inc. 4.4 Lucent Technologies Inc. 4.0 3Com Corp. 4.0 Newbridge Networks Corp. 3.8 Bay Networks Inc. 3.2 Cabletron Systems Inc. 3.0 Ascend Communications 2.8 Fore Sytems Inc. 2.8 Xylan Corp. 2.8 Madge Networks NV 2.2 Howard Anderson's Measuring Stick Last year we took some flak because we called some companies "sideways" movers, avoiding the glowing "upside" or damning "downside." This year we won't have that problem: We gave each company a rating of one to five stars in our five quality-control areas, based on current performance. Our commentary predicts what the future holds for each company. We also added a list of up-and-comers, companies that aren't big enough now but could make the list one or two years down the road. Innovation Is the company a true innovator within its industry? Are these really innovations or just midlife crises? No company is always the innovator, but is the company early often enough that its users don't feel as if it's the last company to see improvements? Market Share What is the company's market share within its main lines of business, and is it growing or losing that share? No company can continue to put R&D resources into products if the investments aren't paying off, and users know that. Market share means users are not alone. Overseas Strength What percentage of the company's business comes from outside the United States (five stars equals more than 50 percent of its volume, one star means less than 20 percent comes from overseas)? Overseas business didn't used to matter, but global companies now want to see the same technology available everywhere. R&D expenses are so high that they must be spread over the entire available market. Alliances What alliances does the company have, and how well do those alliances stack up against competitors'? Are these alliances tactical or strategic? Short- or long-term? Do the alliances spawn real partnerships? Alliances with substantial joint engineering and development save users pain and agony. Growth How rapidly is the company growing (five stars means the company is growing more than 30 percent a year, with one star for less than 15 percent growth)? How does that growth compare to its competitors'? Is its growth generated internally or pieced together through mergers? Has the company gone from being a one-trick pony to developing an entire product line that works together? Howard Anderson is managing director of The Yankee Group and a founder and general partner of Battery Ventures. He is also a contributing writer to UPSIDE. Contact The Yankee Group at (617) 367-1666. upside.com For nutshell analysis of each company's ranking see upside.com Regards