At the Cisco Financial Analyst Conference Day in New York earlier this month, company CEO John Chambers said the company’s ambition is to transform itself from being the top communications provider to the top information technology provider.
Cisco’s key strategy remains to Build-Buy-Partner and Chambers said mergers & acquisitions remain a key part of the plan.
Most recent deals have focused on software.
Cisco to Acquire BroadHop for Policy Control
Cisco announced plans to acquire BroadHop, a start-up providing policy control and service management technology for carrier networks. Financial terms were not disclosed. BroadHop, which is based in Denver, Colorado, specializes in application-centric policy technology. Its Quantum Network Suite is an open policy-application platform based on PCRF architecture that can be used for network-centric bandwidth management, such as fair use…
Cisco to Acquire Cariden for Network Planning Expertise
Cisco agreed to acquire privately held Cariden Technologies, a provider of network planning, design and traffic management solutions for telecommunications service providers, for approximately $141 million in cash and retention-based incentives. Cariden’s network planning and design tools help service providers to enhance the visibility, programmability and efficiency of their converged networks, while improving service velocity. Cariden’s MATE…
Cisco to Acquire Meraki for Cloud-managed Wi-Fi
Cisco agreed to acquire Meraki, a rival supplier of campus Wi-Fi solutions, for approximately $1.2 billion in cash and retention-based incentives. Meraki supplies a line of high capacity on-site WLAN hardware that is centrally managed from its cloud. Compared to other WLAN solutions including Cisco’s own campus Wi-Fi, Meraki has said its key advantages are quick turn-up and no training or dedicated staff needed to maintain the network, thus…
Cisco to Acquire Cloupia for Cloud Automation Software
Cisco agreed to acquire Cloupia, a start-up focused on Cloud Automation and Management Software, for approximately $125 million in cash and retention-based incentives. Cloupia, which is based in Santa Clara, California, provides tools to automate converged data center infrastructure. The Cloupia Unified Infrastructure Controller (CUIC) is a vendor-neutral, multi-hypervisor and multi-cloud provisioning and management solution that provides…
Cisco Acquires ThinkSmart for Wi-Fi Analytics
Cisco has acquired ThinkSmart Technologies, a software developer specializing in location data analysis using Wi-Fi. Financial terms were not disclosed. ThinkSmart’s location analytics collects information on movement within a venue including time of day, traffic patterns and dwell times. The company, which is based in Cork, Ireland, was formed at the Incubation Centre of University College Cork. The company becomes part of Cisco’s…
Cisco to Acquire BNI for Video Control Plane Software
Cisco will acquire BNI Video, a start-up developing video control plane software for cable operators, for approximately $99 million in cash and retention-based incentives. BNI’s platform allows video service providers to easily incorporate social networking, search, and other next-generation applications into their offerings. BNI’s website says its control plane software connects content to subscribers, enabling transcoding and digital rights…
Cisco to Acquire newScale for Self-Service Portal Software
Cisco agreed to acquire privately-held newScale, a developer of software that delivers a service catalog and self-service portal for IT organizations to select and quickly deploy cloud services within their businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.newScale is based in San Mateo, California. Its software helps IT organizations and service providers offer a self-service “storefront” for both desktop and data center services – across physical,…
