Thread regarding Cisco Systems Inc. layoffs

Has Splunk lost its way?

It feels as though the Splunk BU has drifted off-course, guided by a weak leadership style that inspires more confusion than confidence. In all-hands meetings, what should be moments of clarity and direction often dissolve into polished evasions—answers that circle the runway but never land.

The repeated waves of layoffs have drained the teams of their momentum, leaving many people quietly eyeing the exits. No one seems to understand how decisions were made, and the cloak-and-dagger secrecy around criteria and RIF counts only deepens the anxiety.

Managers now echo the same rehearsed line “I wasn’t involved; the list was made from above without my input" as if it's become part of the official script. The result? A business unit that feels like it’s running on fumes, with trust evaporating faster than morale can be rebuilt.


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| 2701 views | | 23 replies (last December 9) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kbcajbsq

23 replies (most recent on top)

Splunk guys seem lazy

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Post ID: @1e8+1kbcajbsq

@tp
Splunk Support has gone downhill since they were acquired.

Are you joking? There’s no way support can be any worse than it was pre-Cisco. Splunk support is AWFUL. I’ve worked at many software companies, Splunk support is by far the worst run support org I’ve ever seen.

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Post ID: @1ds+1kbcajbsq

Morgan will help fix it.

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Post ID: @y6+1kbcajbsq

Splunk Support has gone downhill since they were acquired.
I miss pre-Cisco Splunk.

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Post ID: @tp+1kbcajbsq

@mj Gary was brought in to do one thing and one thing only, prep the company for a sale to Cisco. The board wanted to cash out, so Doug was shown the door, and Gary was brought in, then magically the sale to Cisco was announced.

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Post ID: @n8+1kbcajbsq

No. But until Cisco stops selling XDR against it, you will lose money.

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Post ID: @mk+1kbcajbsq

Splunk is literally an overpriced SIEM. It was a horrible purchase. Gary Steele saw the writing on the wall.

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Post ID: @mj+1kbcajbsq

Splunk rolled into G2’s empire —what other destiny could you have expected?

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Post ID: @ga+1kbcajbsq

The only recent acquisition with success was Meraki. The reason is they left Meraki totally alone for 7 years in San Francisco. Kept the doors locked (Cisco badges didn't work in their building), and hence kept cancer out.

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Post ID: @g1+1kbcajbsq

@cr very well said! 👏👏

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Post ID: @es+1kbcajbsq

Cisco is notoriously bad at acclimating acquisitions.

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Post ID: @dm+1kbcajbsq

Cisco got Splunked all over the face by G2. Hail the Patel Gods of Cisco. Embrace change because “Change is the ONLY constant” - C Patel, Cato EMEA.

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Post ID: @cz+1kbcajbsq

What is the current revenue from Splunk ? It had annual revenue of $2B before it was bought.

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Post ID: @ct+1kbcajbsq

CR Is responsible for this mess !! Anyone who approved it is also responsible for putting Cisco in this situation and it will be difficult for Cisco to recover from this fiasco.

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Post ID: @cs+1kbcajbsq

You must be new here. Splunk was DOA when the deal was paid for. It had drained the swamp in the US and they sold Cisco on the great partnership to flood the global channels (Europe and Asia) to sell more. Here's the thing, Cisco doesn't know how to do acquisitions anymore. They've been using the same playbook for decades and refuse to change. I worked on the acquisitions team for the Splunk deal and they couldn't even come up with an offer that was easy for the customer to purchase (#1 complaint of Cisco customers...hard to work with). Meanwhile Splunk kept saying "You can't change our processes, you said you wouldn't" (LMAO) Along with "We don't have the resources to take on more business". So yea, lay them off and absorb them into Cisco if they don't have the resources. It was a freaking joke.

Splunk is a money pit. Employee's didn't get the memo they were bought by Cisco and their CEO jumped ship with bags of money.

Meanwhile the M&A team still has Webex on their project log as an uncompleted acquisition.

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Post ID: @cr+1kbcajbsq

If you spent $28B, using borrowed money, and the return is less than the borrowed amount, sales are weak and outlook bleak...you would lose your job...but good old CR just keeps trucking along to the next failure

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Post ID: @cf+1kbcajbsq

As with all acquisitions, Cisco is just gonna keep chipping away at Splunk until there is hardly anything left.

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Post ID: @ce+1kbcajbsq

Splunk has definitely lost it's way, but then again it had been floundering for years anyway. We had years of bad product roll outs and cancellations. But at least the spirit and Splunkyness of it all was still around. But the acquisition put a dagger in that.

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Post ID: @ca+1kbcajbsq

What juiced the stock rise?

The stock rise is brought to you by the letters A and I. According to an article I read a while back Cisco also spent $182B in stock buybacks. Look at the stock price compared to March 2000 then look at the market cap at those two points in time.

As for Splunk, their last report before being bought in said they had $4B in revenue and $1B in earnings. Look at revenues today versus Cisco in 2023 before acquiring Splunk. If Splunk continued to produce $4B annually in revenue and Cisco's total revenue with Splunk's is down ask what else failed so badly to produce that loss.

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Post ID: @c1+1kbcajbsq

What juiced the stock rise?

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Post ID: @bx+1kbcajbsq

Splunk was past its growth phase before Cisco bought it, but was probably salvageable with the right leadership and some tough choices. It could have lived out its middle age as a smaller-but-profitable enterprise company.

Getting bought by Cisco was a literal death sentence. The layoffs started before the acquisition completed and are still ongoing. Of course that is going to obliterate morale. On top of that, you have Splunk employees now subject to awful D-list Cisco management that feels like it needs ROI for the spectacular overbid Cisco needlessly presented to close this deal. There is no way Splunk can produce revenues to justify what Cisco paid, but that's not their fault, its Cisco's fault for overbidding.

This acquisition should have never happened. It is one of the top ten worst acquisitions in US markets (any, not just tech) in the last ten years.

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Post ID: @aq+1kbcajbsq

Splunk? What complete BS acquisition that turned out to be. Cisco has been had…

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Post ID: @am+1kbcajbsq

Cisco bought Splunk for security, the quarter was really bad for security and hence they fired the splunk security GM. Silicon is selling and not Security. There will be more deeper cuts going forward in splunk side, just wait for the next quarter

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Post ID: @a1+1kbcajbsq

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