Dive Brief:

• Cisco Systems is performing better than common perception would have people believe, says financial analyst Pierre Farragu, according to Barron's.

• Farragu says Cisco's results have been held back by a slow teleco market, but taking that segment out of the equation reveals Cisco has been growing at a steady pace for the last five years.

• Ferragu pointed to a survey published Wednesday by his colleague, Toni Sacconaghi, that showed that "Cisco is one of the rare vendors with whom CIOs plan, on balance, to spend more going forward."

Dive Insight:

Cisco’s struggle to reinvent itself under a shifting tech landscape have been well-publicized, particularly with its several rounds of layoffs.  But the company may be in better shape than some estimate.

In June, Cisco introduced intent-based networking as part of its strategic shift to software-based solutions. The new approach is essentially software designed to make it easier for corporate customers to manage and monitor their networks, and many view the move as a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, the company continues to make strategic investments to help it modernize and meet evolving customer needs. On Thursday, Cisco announced its intent to acquire Observable Networks, a privately held software company that provides "cloud-native network forensics security applications delivered as a service," according to a Cisco blog.