Cisco Systems is acquiring Ensoft Ltd., which develops software for service provider networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The move reinforces Cisco's strategy to help customers build simplified, scalable, trusted, and automatable IP network infrastructure, VP of Corporate Business Development Rob Salvagno wrote in a blog.
Ensoft had roughly 70 employees ahead of the deal, according to the startup company's website. The firm's service provider networking expertise, the site says, includes:
- Routing and switching (BGP, all the IGPs, MPLS, multicast etc)
- Carrier Ethernet (IEEE technologies, pseudowires and VPLS, E-OAM etc)
- Residential subscriber management (PPP/IP sessions, scalable wholesale access)
- Embedded services (session border control, security services)
- All the "hidden" functionality and craft that goes into high-end carrier class devices.
What's Next for Ensoft's Team
The deal, expected to be finalized this quarter, will likely align Ensoft's software with Cisco's IOS XR operating system for service provider routing systems.
The Ensoft team will join Cisco’s Service Provider Networking Group led by Senior Vice President and General Manager Sumeet Arora.
The deal surfaces one week after Cisco Partner Summit 2018. During the conference, CEO Chuck Robbins reinforce the networking company's expansion toward software, subscription services and recurring revenues.
Major portions of that work involves high-end service provider networks, but Cisco has also renewed its focused on SMB service providers as well.
