Cisco to acquire Jasper Technologies

Cisco has announced its intent to acquire Jasper Technologies a privately held company that delivers a cloud-based IoT service platform to help enterprises and service providers launch, manage and monetise IoT services on a global scale.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay $1.4 billion in cash and assumed equity awards, plus additional retention based incentives.

Jasper is an IoT service platform in terms of number of enterprises and service providers; in fact, many of the world’s largest enterprises and service providers are using the company’s platform to scale their IoT services business globally. Jasper develops and provides a SaaS platform with a predictable, recurring revenue IoT business that manages and drives a wide range of connected devices and services for more than 3500 enterprises worldwide, working with 27 service provider groups globally.

“I am excited about the opportunity for Cisco and Jasper to accelerate how customers recognise the value of the Internet of Things,” said Chuck Robbins, Chief Executive Officer, Cisco. “Together, we can enable service providers, enterprises and the broader ecosystem to connect, automate, manage, and analyse billions of connected things, across any network, creating new revenue streams and opportunities.”

According to reports, the proposed acquisition will allow Cisco to offer a complete IoT solution that is interoperable across devices and works with IoT service providers, application developers and an ecosystem of partners. Cisco will continue to build upon the Jasper IoT service platform and add new IoT services such as enterprise Wi-Fi, security for connected devices, and advanced analytics to better manage device usage.

“IoT has become a business imperative across the globe. Enterprises in every industry need integrated solutions that give them complete visibility and control over their connected services, while also being simple to implement, manage and scale,” said Jahangir Mohammed, Chief Executive Officer, Jasper. “By coming together, Jasper and Cisco will help mobile operators and enterprises accelerate their IoT success.”

Jasper CEO Jahangir Mohammed will run the new IoT Software Business Unit under Rowan Trollope, Cisco senior vice president and general manager, IoT and Collaboration Technology Group. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.