Cisco to buy Axioss management software

Cisco Systems has agreed to acquire service fulfillment software assets from the UK subsidiary of Comptel, in an effort to help operators speed up the launch of new services, the networking company said.

The deal is expected to close in September, and Cisco will pay about US$31 million in cash for the Axioss software, according to statements from the two companies.

Cisco will use the Axioss software to add automated ordering and fulfillment to its Prime platform, which allows operators to automate the management of network services, the company said. Operators will be able to quickly launch new video, data, mobility and cloud services to their customers, according to Cisco.

According to Cisco, upon the close of the acquisition, the Axioss team will be integrated into the Cisco’s NMTG (Network Management Technology Group) and its Advanced Services Group. Gareth Senior , Comptel CTO and member of the Executive Board, will move to Cisco. The services group “will offer implementation, customisation and integration services”, and the new personnel will “bring strong software development and professional services skills,” Cisco said.

Comptel will keep its existing Axioss customers and continue to support them, it said.

Axioss was originally developed by Axiom Systems, a company that Comptel acquired 2008.

As operators search high and low for new revenue sources, the software side of their networks has received a lot more attention from vendors lately. For example, earlier this year, Ericsson announced it would acquire Telcordia. Its products will help monetise the traffic and products that operators sell, Ericsson said at the time.

On Monday, Alcatel-Lucent introduced a new set of services to analyse the health and performance of operator networks. Network performance is a critical issue, because it can be the difference between whether someone remains a loyal customer and continues to use an operators’ services, or defects to a rival, according to Alcatel-Lucent.