History of Cisco acquisitions: 144 buys in 18 years

Cisco says its success rate with acquisitions is 70% while 90% of them fail for the rest of the industry.

Slideshow: 25 years of networking

Perhaps its success is due to the fact it acquires so many companies - 144 to be exact, since 1993. With that kind of experience, getting it right might come second nature.

Then again, right is in the eye of the beholder. Many officials from the acquired companiesdefect from Cisco for a variety of reasons - one of which is, they are serial entrepreneurs who thrive in a start-up environment instead of an established, multi-layer structure like Cisco's.

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