Cisco on Wednesday said it will acquire Pari Networks, a privately-held specialist in network configuration and change management (NCCM) products for enterprise security. Cisco said it will integrate Pari's technology, which also covers compliance management capabilities, into its smart services portfolio.
Founded in 2005, Pari Networks is based in Milpitas, Calif. and has another base of employees in Hyderabad, India. Its products, which are software and appliances that can assess network vulnerabilities and enforce corporate policies and compliance needs, are sold to enterprises and managed security service providers.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cisco expects the acquisition to close in the third quarter of its fiscal 2011, at which time Pari Networks' team will join Cisco's Technical Services group.
"As business functions become more reliant on devices and applications that run over networks, customers realize that maintaining the health and performance of the network is critical," said Joe Pinto, senior vice president of Cisco Technical Services, in a statement. "Pari Networks will help Cisco and our partners to deliver smarter, more proactive services that help our customers to identify potential network problems before they occur and optimize the performance, management and efficiency of their networks."
The acquisition is the first by Cisco of the new calendar year, and the latest in a streak of acquisitions by Cisco that's gone largely unabated for nearly two decades.
Since 2000 alone, the company has acquired more than 80 companies, and in 2010 made M&A moves in several markets, including smart grid energy, with Arch Rock, consumer product development, with the Moto Group, optical networking, with CoreOptics, and network services virtualization, with LineSider Technologies.
