Cisco's Volpi steps down

One of the men most likely to eventually succeed Cisco's chief executive John Chambers has resigned.

Mike Volpi, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's routing and service provider group left the company late last week.

Commentators were unsure whether he had genuinely resigned, or whether he was pushed, but whichever one it was it throws the question of the successor to Chambers into some confusion.

It's unlikely that Chambers will leave yet-a-while, but losing Volpi, a well-respected man with 13 years behind him at Cisco, is a blow to the networking giant.

Volpi's departure is all the more surprising because he's told journalists that he doesn't yet have any plans for the future and he cites "personal reasons" for leaving: though he does say he's been mulling a resignation for "a few months".

The head of Linksys, Charlie Giancarlo, takes over his roles for the time being, and in some people's eyes becomes a frontrunner for Chambers' position, when it finally does become free.