Cisco Moves to Acquire SDN Startup Viptela

Cisco Systems said on Monday that it plans to acquire software-defined networking startup Viptela, signaling Cisco's desire to expand the SDN capabilities it can provide to its enterprise customers. 

The deal, which is worth $610 million, is expected to close in the second half of 2017. Viptela, founded in 2012 by former Cisco engineers Amir Khan and Khalid Raza, sells software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology that lets companies connect their branch offices to corporate data centers, as Venturebeat notes. 

"Viptela provides a compelling SD-WAN solution that simplifies management, increases agility and reduces costs of interconnecting dispersed enterprise networks," Cisco says in a statement. "Its network management, orchestration and overlay technologies make it easy to deploy and manage SD-WAN. This cloud-first approach also aligns with Cisco's Digital Network Architecture (DNA) transition to software-driven, automated networks that are more flexible, responsive and dynamic."

Although Cisco has been deploying SD-WAN technology for several years, the deal will expand the company's portfolio and let it deploy more functionality via the cloud, according to a blog post from Rob Salvango, Cisco's vice president of corporate business development. Viptela's "cloud-first approach to SD-WAN includes cloud orchestration and management of branch networks, as well as overlay technologies," Salvango says. Once the deal closes, Cisco will be able to "offer customers more choice in their enterprise branch offices and WAN deployments, with a compelling SD-WAN solution that is easy to deploy and simple to manage," he says.