Mr. Hooper: Cisco CEO’s Heir Apparent?

If there was any doubt that Ned Hooper is Cisco (CSCO) CEO John Chambers’s likely heir apparent, it disappeared today when the company named him chief strategy officer.

For Hooper, who was already waist-deep in corporate strategy at Cisco as senior vice president corporate development and head of its consumer division, this is quite a promotion, one that clearly suggests he’s being groomed for the CEO spot. And with former CEO candidates Charlie Giancarlo and Mike Volpi out of the picture, what’s to stop him from ascending to it? As Barclays Capital noted this morning, “The appointment cements our view that Mr. Hooper is well-regarded within Cisco and may continue to progress in the upper echelons of Cisco’s management team.”