But when it comes to shifting companies, this is not the first time Gandhi had left for a startup. Long before, Gandhi left Cisco to find security startup Rohati Systems, which he later on sold to Cisco itself in 2009. This bought him back to the management board of the networking giant. Cisco often acquires startups from ex-employees if they leave on good terms.

But this time, we think, it’s a completely different scenario. Because it’s Big Switch Networks, Cisco’s biggest startup rival.

Who is Big Switch Networks?

Big Switch Networks has raised more than $45 million in venture capital, and is a specialist in software-defined networking.

Today, Big Switch is working on a form of SDN technology called OpenFlow. This tech is a completely new way to build corporate networks. Instead of buying expensive hardware routers and switches with a lot of fancy features from Cisco, companies can use OpenFlow software to do those exciting features. They can then buy simpler, cheaper hardware, and less of it.

Another interesting fact is that Big Switch co-founder Kyle Forster was also an ex-Cisco superstar.

No wonder why Big Switch has positioned itself as true alternative to major networking players like Cisco and VMWare.

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