CISCO SYSTEMS INC. (CSCO) is best known for selling routers and
switches to telecoms companies, but its strongest sales growth
these days comes from an area that seldom gets much attention:
hospitals. Cisco has sold routers and switches to hospitals and
insurance companies for years, but in 2005 it created a business
segment focusing on health care. Since then, it has launched a
wide range of equipment designed for hospitals. "It's growing
at a pace that is faster than Cisco overall, and the industry
overall. We have doubled our sales over the last two years,"
Jeffrey Rideout, head of Cisco's health care practice, told
Reuters. While the company does not disclose financial results
from the segment, Rideout said annual revenue is well over a
billion dollars, out of Cisco's overall sales of about $35
billion. He forecast more growth ahead as hospitals install
wireless technology and Cisco teams up with medical device
makers to ensure more data can be shared on Internet protocol
networks.