Executive Summary
[1]Since it became a public company almost 15 years ago, Cisco has broadened its product line from pure-play LAN switching devices to a diversified technology portfolio that includes voice, security, wireless, and recently, storage networking for consumer, enterprise, and service provider markets. Cisco has managed to increase its manufacturing economies of scale and scope while growing its market presence and its leadership. To support its diverse product lines, Cisco has built a complex IT infrastructure consisting of numerous interconnected databases and applications, including a materials procurement electronic hub (e-hub). This e-hub serves real-time reporting and materials data for almost all of its contract manufacturers.Each of these applications and databases connects into its mission-critical ERP and Cisco Connection Online (CCO) architectures responsible for online ordering, manufacturing, and financials databases. Almost every database has its own development and staging area and most production environments have standby sites for disaster recovery. The combination of these environments, including user home directories, currently consumes approximately 1.6 PB of raw storage.