In a move to expand its enterprise line, Cisco Systems Inc. Wednesday
bought extranet and intranet solution providers Altiga Networks and Compatible Systems in stock deals worth
$567 million.
Cisco (CSCO)
will issue common stock for all outstanding shares, warrants and options of
Altiga and Compatible.
Altiga’s 76 employees will be led by Altiga Chief Executive Officer Mark
Freitas and will become part of the enterprise line of business.
Compatible’s 68 employees will be led by Compatible Chief Executive Officer
Matt McConnell and will become part of the service provider line of
business.
Cisco made the buys to expand its New World Virtual Private Networks department by providing enterprise and service provider customers with industry-leading remote access and extranet solutions.
VPNs
provide secure network and geographic connectivity to telecommuters, mobile
users and remote offices, as well as customers, suppliers and partners. VPNs
are fundamental for enterprises seeking to achieve global reach, access and
enable new business applications.
Altiga specializes in integrated VPN solutions for remote access
applications. Its product suite will complement Cisco’s existing family of
VPN routers and security appliances.
Compatible develops standards-based, reliable and scalable VPN solutions for
service provider networks. Its platform enables service providers to deploy
IPSec architectures for VPN services.
The acquisitions come a day after California-based Cisco bought a 580-acre
campus in Massachsuetts to boost its power in New England. The campus, in
like fashion to college campuses in Massachusetts, will have three separate
arms in Boxborough, Littleton and Harvard. The combined sites could employ
an estimated 5,000 new employees.