John Chambers's 20-year reign as Cisco CEO will soon come to an end, with the networking giant announcing Chuck Robbins as his successor, effective July 26.

Robbins, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)'s senior vice president of worldwide operations, has been with the company since 1997. When he takes over as CEO in July, he will also join the company's board of directors. Chambers, chief executive of Cisco since 1995, will become executive chairman and continue to serve as chairman of Cisco's board at that time.

This transition has been a long time in the making. Chambers said in 2012 that he would retire in two to four years. He even announced potential successors three years ago with many expecting Cisco President of Development and Sales Rob Lloyd to be the next in line. Lloyd, thought of as Cisco's number-two exec, did many joint news conferences and press Q&As with the CEO over the years. (See John Chambers IDs Potential Successors, Cisco's Chambers Still Coy About Retiring and Is Cisco's Chambers Retiring in the Fall?)

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But Robbins is no slouch. He's credited with building out Cisco's partner program, now worth more than $40B in revenue to the company each year, and was instrumental in the company’s strategy for the commercial business segment, which now represents 25% of Cisco’s total business. Chambers said in a statement that Robbins is well-positioned to further Cisco's role in the digital transformation.

"Our next CEO needs to thrive in a highly dynamic environment, to be capable of accelerating what is working very well for Cisco, and disrupting what needs to change," Chambers said. "Chuck is unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into world-class execution, bringing together teams and ecosystems to drive results. Chuck knows every Cisco segment, technology area, and geography, and will move the company forward with the speed required to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us."

Robbins will have big shoes to fill. Chambers has a storied history in the networking business. He has helped focus Cisco and grew it from $1.2 billion in annual revenue to its current run rate of $48 billion. He will continue to support Robbins through his position on the board. Chambers will be 66 in August. (See Cisco Flips on Consumer Business, Cisco Unloads Linksys Unit and Chambers Caught in 90s Deja Vu.)

Light Reading interviewed the dynamic outgoing CEO at Mobile World Congress. Check out the video below for his thoughts on transformation and virtualization. (See Cisco CEO: Get Ready for New Digital World and Think Outside the White Box.)

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Cisco's stock was up .13 points, or .45%, to $29.26 after news of the appointment broke on Monday.

— Sarah Thomas, , Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading