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Power requires balance. The 50 people we've selected as this year's most powerful network players sometimes make it look easy, but deciding when to take risks and when to play it safe is a true art.

Our list covers representatives from the vendor community - both perennials and up-and-comers - users, the government sector, those who make standards come to fruition, and thought leaders. No two people's jobs are exactly alike. Neither are their hobbies. One power player relaxes at the gold mine he bought in California. Another is restoring a classic Corvette. A third escapes to his Montana ranch when it's time to put work aside. Once again, it's all about balance.

POWER PERENNIALS

Chambers. Ballmer. McNealy. These names are as much a part of the network industry as the routers and switches moving the bits and bytes around the world. By virtue of the organizations they lead and the pervasiveness of the technologies over which they lord, they have become perennial figures on our power list.

John Chambers

President and CEO, Cisco

John Chambers is the only vendor executive to be ranked among Network World's most powerful since the Power Issue's inception in 1994. Back then, when he was vice president and president-elect, he earned his spot for his acquisition prowess, a skill he has demonstrated artfully throughout his stewardship of Cisco. In 2002, Chambers oversaw the acquisition of five more start-ups. Chambers' charisma continues to wow customers and bodes well for his visions of Cisco in new markets, such as storage and security (see story, "The 10 most powerful companies in networking" ).

Tim Berners-Lee

Director, World Wide Web Consortium

Next to icon Chambers, Berners-Lee is the only other person whose name has consistently graced the power list since 1994. His influence persists through his work with W3C - an organization that has grown in stature annually - and for his position as senior research scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. He even continues to pile on the accolades as inventor of the World Wide Web: This year, Berners-Lee, a Brit, received the Albert Award from the acclaimed British Royal Society of Arts for his work with the Web.