Bill Stuntz's new role at Cisco

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Bill Stuntz has been named general manager and vice president of the physical security business unit at Cisco, replacing Mark Farino, who is no longer with the company. Stuntz was previously chief executive officer of Broadware Technologies, which was acquired by Cisco in May. Stuntz's new role is to "grow the business," he said. "With the addition of Broadware, we want to expand it into a much larger vision for the company and the industry. At Cisco, we've played a role of creating order by creating a platform that lots of technologies can be brought together upon. There are a lot of people making products, but they don't talk together very well. Cisco will give customers far more choices that will allow these products to be tied together." Stuntz felt there was "a real synergy between the two companies. Hopefully we can create the proper partnerships out there in the industry. If we do this right, it should move the industry forward by creating that glue, and tying these great technologies together for the customers." The roots of the Broadware acquisition actually go back a few years, when Cisco joined a corporate funding round for the company in 2005 (search "Broadware's financing" at www.securitysystemsnews.com). "We've stayed in close contact since 2005 and Cisco's physical security unit was involved on our board," said Stuntz. In fact, "We had been working with Cisco even before they made the investment. It was based upon technology compatibility. Cisco, when they commit, they do it in a big way," he said. "Wait, I need to change that: We do it in a big way," Stuntz said, chuckling. How does he find the environment at Cisco? "I've been here three weeks and I'm still in awe of the number of resources here. There's also discipline," he said. "I've seen other companies try to get into this business. At Cisco, we want to be a major long-term player, we try to pick the right areas where we want to focus, and get happy customers and the right products. Cisco does this way before focusing on revenue. They look longer term at doing it right--I've been very impressed by that." What are Stuntz's goals for the immediate future? "Generally, we're going to be focusing on creating products that are interoperable, choosing different products and partnerships, and supporting the sales channel to move security onto the IP network." The specifics, said Stuntz, will come from a "whole group of smart people here. My focus right now is getting the team together--not just my plans, but a whole group of people--and make it happen."