6. Cisco Taps Former Channel Chief Robbins As CEO, Accelerates Growth

In his first four months on the job, Cisco Systems CEO -- and former U.S. channel chief -- Chuck Robbins has moved the company forward at a breakneck pace through acquisitions, new technology partnerships, internal restructuring and aggressively entering fast-growing markets.

Robbins has worked to create a more agile, flatter and faster company by streamlining the company’s internal organization. The company has combined its product and services sales teams, consolidated its Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud organizations, and built smaller R&D teams to work on specific customer issues.

Cisco has unveiled alliances with Ericsson around networking and IoT and Apple around bridging the consumer and enterprise worlds.