5:15 PM -- There don't seem to be any rumors about who the next heir apparent at Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) is, now that Charles Giancarlo bailed. (See Giancarlo Quits Cisco, Paddles to Silver Lake.)

Possible reasons?

Too many potential candidates. Mario Mazzola, Jayshree Ullal, Randy Pond -- Cisco's bench is stacked.

Arguably, Giancarlo wasn't the CEO-in-waiting. He got anointed so by the media, ourselves included, but Cisco never overtly named him such.

The selection is going to be a years-long process. CEO John Chambers has become the public persona of Cisco, and that role is not easily replaceable.

Nobody's at work today.

Chambers admits multiple people will be groomed for possible advancement, and that brings up something analyst Bill Choi at Jefferies & Company Inc. pointed out. It's not a rumor, just an observation.

Look at the seven-person development council formed this month. There's a new slot for consumer products, an area where Cisco hasn't fully defined its goals. It's being run by Ned Hooper. He's been handling M&A and was profiled in Business Week in April.

Reportedly, Chambers is saying Hooper is one of those being singled out for grooming -- in the executive sense, not the Head & Shoulders sense.

Maybe Hooper's is a name to watch.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading