Cisco’s co-presidents plan to resign on the eve of the company’s new CEO taking the reins.

Rob Lloyd and Gary Moore will step down July 25 as incoming CEO Chuck Robbins implements a flatter organizational structure. Lloyd, president of development and sales, and Moore, president and COO, were tabbed for those posts two-and-a-half years ago by outgoing CEO John Chambers to better align product development and sales, and to streamline company operations.

Lloyd was also believed to have been a candidate to replace Chambers, who announced recently that he will step down July 26. Lloyd’s departure was not unexpected after Cisco named Robbins as its new CEO.

Robbins currently reports to Lloyd so the inverse arrangement would have been awkward, observers note. Lloyd was a 21-year veteran of Cisco.

+ MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: Cisco’s Chambers: A Retrospective +



Moore, a 14-year veteran, was also pegged by Chambers as a potential CEO should Chambers “be hit by a bus.” Moore was Cisco’s first president and COO (read his blog here).

This is the third stage of a four-stage leadership transition at Cisco, the company said. The first was Robbins ascension to CEO; the second was the appointment of EMEA President Chris Dedicoat as senior vice president of worldwide field operations, succeeding Robbins.

The fourth will be in about two weeks when Robbins names his new leadership team, according to his blog post announcing the imminent departures of Lloyd and Moore.

“As I transition to the role of CEO, my focus areas are based upon acceleration, simplification, operational rigor and culture. These will be the foundation for Cisco’s continued evolution that will position us for the future. We’ve already started transforming with the moves we’ve made in engineering, sales and services – all designed to deliver innovation with speed and meet the needs and expectations of our customers.

“To drive our continued success and leadership, our organization structure must always evolve as the market changes. Today I am announcing that at the end of this fiscal year, Rob and Gary will be leaving Cisco. They will remain in their President roles until July 25th. Going forward, we will move to a flatter leadership team designed for the speed, innovation and execution that is required of us over the next decade.

“Rob and Gary have provided tremendous leadership for Cisco. I believe that one of their greatest achievements is the breadth and depth of the leadership team they’ve helped build. They are both deeply passionate about developing great talent. I am confident that many of those world-class leaders they’ve recruited and mentored will no doubt help lead Cisco into the future, and for this I’m incredibly grateful.”

Lloyd's exit blog is found here and Moore's here.

Reports also surfaced this week that Cisco CTO and strategy officer Padmasree Warrior will leave the company on July 25.