On The Call: Cisco CEO says firms easing off brake

SAN FRANCISCO — Cisco Systems Inc.'s latest results show that the world's No. 1 maker of computer-networking equipment is still being hurt by the downturn, but sees things turning up. The company is forecasting its first year-over-year revenue increase since the financial crisis erupted a year ago.

Cisco's CEO, John Chambers, talked with analysts on a conference call about why he thinks large companies are ready to spend again, and how much predictability there will be in customers' order patterns, and thus Cisco's results. One key driver of that is how much traffic those customers are shuttling across their computer networks. Things like Internet video and other bandwidth-intensive applications are fueling the need for companies and Internet providers to buy more of Cisco's routers and switches.

QUESTION: Is your confidence increasing that customers' network utilization rates are high and that CEOs are planning for more than one quarter at a time, implying continued order linearity and visibility?

ANSWER (Chambers): They are getting their foot, perhaps, off the brake. Some of them are starting on the gas pedal. But very few are doing what Cisco is doing, which is putting the gas pedal all the way down. So I do not think that you can call it linearity in terms of their decision to spend yet, and I think that's what the (chief information officers) would say in our meetings. And only about half the CEOs would even be saying we are comfortably into an economic recovery."