Networking giant Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) is acquiring Sweden-based Tail-f Systems as part of its efforts to broaden software-defined networking (SDN) services in the growing cloud and virtualization marketplace.
The deal, worth $175 million in cash and retention bonsues, was disclosed Tuesday.
“With a rapidly increasing number of people, devices, and sensors connecting across the Internet of Everything (IoE), service providers require new capabilities to deliver value-added, cloud-based services and applications,” said Hilton Romanski, senior vice president of Cisco Corporate Development, in a statement.
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“Our goal is to help to eliminate the bottleneck caused by operational complexity within the network,” Romanski added. “The acquisition of Tail-f’s network services configuration and orchestration technology will extend Cisco’s innovation in network function virtualization, helping service providers reduce operating costs and the time it takes to deploy new services, making agile service provisioning a reality.”
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Scott Raynovich, the Publisher of The Rayno Report and a contributor to Business Insider, called Tail-f “one of the hottest SDN” startups around.
Tail-F “is probably best known for being one of a gaggle of startups selected for AT&T’s coveted Domain 2.0 program, its list of potential future vendors in its SDN network plan,” Raynor wrote. “Tail-f makes a management system for orchestration and managing of applications deployed in an SDN network environment.”
Cisco operates its second largest corporate campus in RTP.
