Session border control stalwart Acme Packet has acquired IPTEGO GmbH, a Berlin, Germany-based network management company, for about $21 million in cash. Acme Packet plans to integrate IPTEGO's network management software with its SBC and session delivery offerings to provide real-time network visibility for customers, the company said.
IPTEGO has more than 80 global customers, according to Acme Packet, and its Palladion software monitors everything from voice and video operations to customer experience, and also provides fraud prevention and detection. Acme plans to offer Palladion through existing Acme Packet and IPTEGO channel partners, as well as sell it directly.
Andy Ory, Acme Packet's president and CEO, said the move was about getting customer to maximize their IT communications investments with better management.
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"Both enterprise and service provider customers are looking for ways to optimize their IP communications networks -- not only to reduce cost and complexity but also to better deploy new, value-adding applications and services," Ory said in a statement.
IPTEGO was founded in Berlin in 2006, and has 28 employees, all of whom will be joining Acme Packet. The two vendors have 30 common customers, and several channel partners, as well.
Based in Bedford, Mass., Acme Packet has about 220 resellers worldwide. The company has the largest market share in both service provider and enterprise SBCs, according to Infonetics Research, and in the fourth quarter of 2011 held shares of 56.9 percent and 52.5 percent, respectively. According to Infonetics, Acme Packet gained 131 new service provider and 213 new enterprise customs in calendar year 2011, and it was the only major enterprise SBC vendor to gain market share during the year.
The company has continued to expand its executive team, and in January, named Steven Aulds senior vice president, engineering, and Dino Di Palma chief operating officer. Both executives report to Ory, and Pat Melampy, Acme Packet CTO and co-Founder, is now working with Ory on Acme Packet's long-term technology strategy.
Acme Packet had a weaker-than-expected fourth fiscal quarter thanks to what Ory described as "the uncertainty of the North American service provider market." For its full-year 2011, Acme reported $307.3 million in revenue, an increase of 33 percent compared to $231.2 million in 2010.
