Dive Brief:
- Tony Shakib, former vice president of Cisco's Internet of Everything Vertical Solutions Engineering organization, is now Microsoft’s general manager of IoT and Intelligent Cloud business, according to his LinkedIn as first reported by CRN.
- At Cisco, Shakib was responsible for "advancing Cisco’s Internet of Everything Digital Platform by applying customer understanding to develop and sell industry-specific solutions," according to his profile.
- Shakib had been critical of Cisco’s horizontal approach to IoT, stating that he believes companies must approach IoT by vertical instead. He worked at Cisco for seven years.
Dive Insight:
Several Cisco leaders have left the networking giant after the company announced a large restructuring of its engineering department last spring, indicating the company may still be undergoing some internal challenges.
In September, Robert Soderbery, the head of Cisco’ enterprise engineering division, announced he was leaving the company. He was followed by Cisco’s chief technology officer and top cloud executive, Zorawar Biri Singh, who left in October.
Last March, Cisco’s new CEO Chuck Robbins announced he was reorganizing the company's 25,000-employee engineering unit. That same engineering unit was reshuffled two years ago prior former CEO John Chambers.
