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I really hope that Duo survives this. Cisco isn't necessarily known for handling acquisitions well...or software...but who knows. Maybe it's the shot in the arm

I really hope that Duo survives this. Cisco isn't necessarily known for handling acquisitions well...or software...but who knows. Maybe it's the shot in the arm that many companies will need to move to token based auth. Lot's of enterprise IT departments take Cisco's word as divine. I have had some bad experiences with Cisco the company, but the devices have always been really good even if they lag behind some of the more aggressive competitors in features or speeds.

Bluecobra 8y ago
I agree 100%. My experience with Duo has been awesome compared to other 2FA solutions such as RSA (which was a dumpster fire setting up and maintaining). I would hate it if it Cisco ruined it.
- charlietango92 8y ago
  Also made the switch from RSA to Duo - was like a breath of fresh air. Sales rep said that about half of their clients that had an MFA solution already were converts from RSA (not surprising really.)
castillar76 8y ago
The more recent acquisitions like Meraki and OpenDNS seem to have fared better. Perhaps the lesson here is that the acquisitions do better when left alone by the mothership. :)
davidu 8y ago
The acquisition track record for the Cisco Security business is pretty incredible. Like HBS Case Study good. Sourcefire, ThreatGrid, OpenDNS, Lancope, CloudLock, Observable. Great products and teams brought to scale and maintained. Even IronPort 10+ years later has done fantastically well. I'm thrilled that Duo will be joining an amazing business filled with a deep bench of security talent and wonderful customers. It's a really strong fit with what Duo has already built and with where both teams are going, now together. I guess I should mention I was founder / CEO of OpenDNS, was acquired by Cisco, previously led the Cisco Security business, and am still an executive at Cisco. So maybe a bit biased, but still factually on the mark. ;-)
- starpilot 8y ago
  Yo can we get some snacks in SJC15?
  - davidu 8y ago
    I'm supportive. Feel free to ping me and I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask.
    - hitekker 8y ago
      > Feel free to ping me and I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask Spoken like a true Cisco executive. You could have just said "I'm supportive but it's out of my hands." Or perhaps, no reply at all.
      - davidu 8y ago
        I take that as a compliment. I really like working with almost every single one of my peers. I'm not responsible for the buildings or teams in SJC15 and the OP knows that. The people who work with me at Cisco know that when I say I'll help, I do.
        hitekker 8y ago
        It wasn’t. Caveating your offer of support three or four times signals hostility not helpfulness. Any rational actor reading that statement would assume you’d forward their message onto HR without a real response. And make note of the complainer in question. If you can’t be concrete with your words, why even bother?
        peterwwillis 8y ago
        I'm not normally one to defend upper management, but that's a dick thing to say to someone who probably genuinely wants to help, but isn't authorized to pay for and ship an expensive snack machine into a random building in a giant company. "I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask" probably means "I'm not the god damn office facilities manager, and I'm not spending my limited time and social capital to quarterback your request for you, but I'll see if I can figure out who in god's name in this 70,000+ person company you should talk to, and tips for how you might convince them to change their budget to give you free snacks".
sofaofthedamned 8y ago
Exactly. They ruined the mobile startup I worked at. I don't have a lot of love for Cisco at the moment.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
tptacek 8y ago
Cisco is essentially composed of nothing but acquisitions. That is what Cisco does. The reputation of Cisco's internal engineering culture used to be pretty grim. I never understood why any PM or lead would actually build something from a Cisco internal MRD, rather than jumping ship, building it privately, and selling it back to Cisco. I know of more than one person that did literally exactly that, successfully. But post-Sourcefire I think it's a different scene there; they have some very large, long-lived teams with coherent cultures now. I assume in the post-Sourcefire Cisco game plan, Duo stays Duo.
- spike021 8y ago
  >I assume in the post-Sourcefire Cisco game plan, Duo stays Duo. Not overly surprisingly if so. Meraki, and in some ways OpenDNS, have stayed mostly their own with varying degrees of integration.
- peterwwillis 8y ago
  The culture didn't shift much post-Sourcefire, it just melded a bit. Everything they acquire becomes a little Cisco-y, depending on how big it was. Duo will become "Cisco-y Duo". But it may be more Cisco or Duo depending on the strength of the culture. Talos is a good example: it was created from merging Cisco SIO and SourceFire VRT, but I would wager it's 80% VRT [in terms of culture]. They also have so many researchers now that it probably has sub-cultures. Even a single remote office can have its own culture.
vkat 8y ago
In my experience Cisco leaves acquisition alone for at least couple of years providing its brand and sales force. If the acquisition isn't proving its worth and/or if revenue growth is staying flat then start packing your bags. On the other hand I don't like how the acquisition's leadership gets to absorb other BU's which are targeting similar market space because there is a lot of time and effort that gets invested into integrating teams working culture and style. Also the incoming teams fight to keep their product portfolios alive which leads to sub-optimal decisions.
NTDF9 8y ago
Cisco follows a survival of the fittest strategy without really saying it or pushing teams/acquisitions to the death. They provide all the resources you need, are very ethical and help your newly acquired team do your best. If your team (business unit as they call it) doesn't cut it after a few years, they start maneuvering those resources elsewhere. But they've always given every acquisition a fair chance to have their own story. See: Meraki, Insieme, Webex. Cisco probably doesn't care if a few of their startup acquisitions don't work out.

Bluecobra 8y ago

I agree 100%. My experience with Duo has been awesome compared to other 2FA solutions such as RSA (which was a dumpster fire setting up and maintaining). I would hate it if it Cisco ruined it.

charlietango92 8y ago
Also made the switch from RSA to Duo - was like a breath of fresh air. Sales rep said that about half of their clients that had an MFA solution already were converts from RSA (not surprising really.)

castillar76 8y ago

The more recent acquisitions like Meraki and OpenDNS seem to have fared better. Perhaps the lesson here is that the acquisitions do better when left alone by the mothership. :)

davidu 8y ago

The acquisition track record for the Cisco Security business is pretty incredible. Like HBS Case Study good. Sourcefire, ThreatGrid, OpenDNS, Lancope, CloudLock, Observable. Great products and teams brought to scale and maintained. Even IronPort 10+ years later has done fantastically well. I'm thrilled that Duo will be joining an amazing business filled with a deep bench of security talent and wonderful customers. It's a really strong fit with what Duo has already built and with where both teams are going, now together. I guess I should mention I was founder / CEO of OpenDNS, was acquired by Cisco, previously led the Cisco Security business, and am still an executive at Cisco. So maybe a bit biased, but still factually on the mark. ;-)

starpilot 8y ago
Yo can we get some snacks in SJC15?
- davidu 8y ago
  I'm supportive. Feel free to ping me and I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask.
  - hitekker 8y ago
    > Feel free to ping me and I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask Spoken like a true Cisco executive. You could have just said "I'm supportive but it's out of my hands." Or perhaps, no reply at all.
    - davidu 8y ago
      I take that as a compliment. I really like working with almost every single one of my peers. I'm not responsible for the buildings or teams in SJC15 and the OP knows that. The people who work with me at Cisco know that when I say I'll help, I do.
      - hitekker 8y ago
        It wasn’t. Caveating your offer of support three or four times signals hostility not helpfulness. Any rational actor reading that statement would assume you’d forward their message onto HR without a real response. And make note of the complainer in question. If you can’t be concrete with your words, why even bother?
        peterwwillis 8y ago
        I'm not normally one to defend upper management, but that's a dick thing to say to someone who probably genuinely wants to help, but isn't authorized to pay for and ship an expensive snack machine into a random building in a giant company. "I'll see if I can give you some pointers of how to make some progress on that ask" probably means "I'm not the god damn office facilities manager, and I'm not spending my limited time and social capital to quarterback your request for you, but I'll see if I can figure out who in god's name in this 70,000+ person company you should talk to, and tips for how you might convince them to change their budget to give you free snacks".

sofaofthedamned 8y ago

Exactly. They ruined the mobile startup I worked at. I don't have a lot of love for Cisco at the moment.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

tptacek 8y ago

Cisco is essentially composed of nothing but acquisitions. That is what Cisco does. The reputation of Cisco's internal engineering culture used to be pretty grim. I never understood why any PM or lead would actually build something from a Cisco internal MRD, rather than jumping ship, building it privately, and selling it back to Cisco. I know of more than one person that did literally exactly that, successfully. But post-Sourcefire I think it's a different scene there; they have some very large, long-lived teams with coherent cultures now. I assume in the post-Sourcefire Cisco game plan, Duo stays Duo.

spike021 8y ago
>I assume in the post-Sourcefire Cisco game plan, Duo stays Duo. Not overly surprisingly if so. Meraki, and in some ways OpenDNS, have stayed mostly their own with varying degrees of integration.
peterwwillis 8y ago
The culture didn't shift much post-Sourcefire, it just melded a bit. Everything they acquire becomes a little Cisco-y, depending on how big it was. Duo will become "Cisco-y Duo". But it may be more Cisco or Duo depending on the strength of the culture. Talos is a good example: it was created from merging Cisco SIO and SourceFire VRT, but I would wager it's 80% VRT [in terms of culture]. They also have so many researchers now that it probably has sub-cultures. Even a single remote office can have its own culture.

vkat 8y ago

In my experience Cisco leaves acquisition alone for at least couple of years providing its brand and sales force. If the acquisition isn't proving its worth and/or if revenue growth is staying flat then start packing your bags. On the other hand I don't like how the acquisition's leadership gets to absorb other BU's which are targeting similar market space because there is a lot of time and effort that gets invested into integrating teams working culture and style. Also the incoming teams fight to keep their product portfolios alive which leads to sub-optimal decisions.

NTDF9 8y ago

Cisco follows a survival of the fittest strategy without really saying it or pushing teams/acquisitions to the death. They provide all the resources you need, are very ethical and help your newly acquired team do your best. If your team (business unit as they call it) doesn't cut it after a few years, they start maneuvering those resources elsewhere. But they've always given every acquisition a fair chance to have their own story. See: Meraki, Insieme, Webex. Cisco probably doesn't care if a few of their startup acquisitions don't work out.