Cisco to acquire network performance monitoring partner Accedian

In an effort to accelerate high-performance service assurance, Cisco is planning a partner acquisition

Cisco has announced its intent to acquire network performance monitoring partner Accedian in an effort to tackle increasing subscriber expectations and stringent performance requirements.

The vendor stated that today's industries are going through digital transformations where assuring quality digital experiences is crucial. It said that's why it is making network and service assurance a strategic part of the Cisco Networking Cloud.

The news comes just months after the acquisition of cloud network security start-up Valtix in a bid to further the tech giant's cloud security strategy.

"Accedian was born in the heart of the world's largest and most complex networks," said Dion Joannou, CEO of Accedian.

"When we were acquired by Bridge Growth Partners, a leading technology investment firm, in 2017 we transformed the company, accelerated its growth, and evolved to a SaaS-first service assurance platform.

"Microseconds matter to customers and customer experience, and precise, granular performance visibility is a foundational requirement for closed-loop automation, agile telco cloud environments, and latency-sensitive 5G services.

"We look forward to bringing our critical capabilities to a wider set of solutions within Cisco's Networking portfolio and taking the next step in the partnership we have built with Cisco and our joint customers over the last years."

Kevin Wollenweber, SVP and GM at Cisco Networking also commented: "Cisco and Accedian have collaborated through the Cisco Solutions Plus programme to deliver a joint automation and assurance solution for service provider customers.

"Accedian greatly strengthens Cisco's approach to assurance, helping to enable agility, efficiency, and the scale that service providers need to drive success.

"Accedian's service assurance portfolio of microsecond level sensors and the powerful Skylight Analytics platform, coupled with Cisco's robust portfolio, will enable Cisco to bring transformational solutions to our service provider customers."

He concluded explaining that with Accedian's network performance and user experience monitoring capabilities for CSP customers, Cisco has "a unique opportunity to link that data into Cisco ThousandEyes' cloud for end-to-end network assurance".

Cisco has come under scrutiny, much like many other big tech companies, for the lay-off of almost 700 employees in January 2023.