Cisco has struck a deal to acquire Viptela, a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) company based in San Jose.
The deal will see Cisco acquire Viptela for US$610 million in cash and equity awards, with the deal expected to close in the second half of calendar 2017, after having met various conditions and regulatory reviews.
Viptela, which has only been in existence since 2012, provides an SD-WAN solution that is aimed at simplifying management, increasing agility and reduces costs of interconnecting dispersed enterprise networks.
The company’s network management, orchestration and overlay technologies are designed to make it easy to deploy and manage SD-WAN.
"Viptela's technology is cloud-first, with a focus on simplicity and ease of deployment while simultaneously providing a rich set of capabilities and scale. These principles are what today's customers demand," Cisco Enterprise Networking Group senior vice-president of product management, Scott Harrell, said.
"With Viptela and Cisco, we will be able to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of comprehensive on-premises, hybrid, and cloud-based SD-WAN solutions," he said.
This cloud-first approach also aligns with Cisco's Digital Network Architecture (DNA) transition to software-driven, automated networks that are more flexible, responsive and dynamic.
Ultimately, the deal is set to expand Cisco's SD-WAN portfolio with increased functionality delivered via the cloud.
“Cisco has been providing SD-WAN technology and services to customers for several years,” Cisco corporate business development vice-president, Rob Salvagno, said in a blog.
“The Cisco WAN solution delivers an on-premises SD-WAN solution for customers needing advanced routing features and other advanced network services, and Cisco Meraki provides a cloud-based solution for customers needing maximum simplicity and unified threat management functionality in their SD-WAN solution.
“Acquiring Viptela will enable us to expand our portfolio, with increased functionality delivered through the cloud,” he said.
The Viptela team will join the Enterprise Routing team within the Networking and Security Business led by senior vice-president, David Goeckeler. After the acquisition closes, Viptela and Cisco engineering teams will be working closely together to enhance Cisco's SD-WAN offering and ensure continued support for our customers.
The deal comes just weeks after Riverbed Technology moved to boost its SD-WAN portfolio by acquiring Wi-Fi network provider, Xirrus.
“Together with Riverbed, we embrace a tremendous opportunity to create the world’s first SD-WAN solution that covers the core to the edge of the network,” Xirrus CEO, Shane Buckley, said at the time.
