ZDNet reports Cisco is spending $3.2 billion cash to acquire the number one Web conferencing company, WebEx. ‘Cisco Systems is spending billions to prove it can do more than sell routers,’ the report says, continuing:

“(CEO) John Chambers does not want to leave Cisco a $25-a-share company,” said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Yankee Group.

This quest for growth has been the impetus behind several Cisco acquisitions, both large and small, over the past few years. It’s why Cisco is moving into markets such as consumer electronics and even social networking and online entertainment.

In February it bought Five Across, an 11-person company based in San Francisco that has developed software that allows large companies to easily add social-networking features to their Web sites without needing to hire a team of engineers. Using this tool, companies will be able to create communities in which users can share audio, video and photos, as well as post blogs, podcasts and profiles. And earlier this month Cisco bought social-networking technology from privately held Utah Street Networks, the operator of the social-networking site Tribe.net.

“For the past 20 years, we have been on a mission to make networking and communications products that change people’s lives,” said Charles Giancarlo, Cisco’s chief development officer. “When you have the same mission statement for that long, it’s not a fad. We really believe that we are changing the world.”