The M&A in the IoT continues, but with a different, more strategic bent, it seems. As bigger companies, like Cisco (News - Alert) in this news, look for IoT assets to bring into the fold, they will be looking for companies that bring not only technological assets, but also strategic expertise and new market assets.
In that vein, Cisco has announced its intent to acquire Jasper Technologies, a privately held company based in Santa Clara that delivers a cloud-based IoT service platform designed to help enterprises and service providers launch, manage and monetize IoT services on a global scale. Under the terms of the agreement as announced, Cisco will pay $1.4 billion in cash and assumed equity awards, plus additional retention based incentives.
“I am excited about the opportunity for Cisco and Jasper to accelerate how customers recognize the value of the Internet of Things,” said Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco. “Together, we can enable service providers, enterprises and the broader ecosystem to connect, automate, manage, and analyze billions of connected things, across any network, creating new revenue streams and opportunities.”
Many of the world’s largest enterprises and service providers are using the Jasper platform to scale IoT services businesses globally. With Jasper, companies can connect any device over the cellular networks of the top global service providers, and then manage connectivity of IoT services through Jasper’s Software as a Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) platform. The Jasper SaaS platform is a predictable, recurring revenue IoT business that manages and drives a wide range of connected devices and services for more than 3,500 enterprises worldwide, working with 27 service provider groups globally.
The proposed acquisition will allow Cisco to offer a more 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, CEO, Jasper. “By coming together, Jasper and Cisco will help mobile operators and enterprises accelerate their IoT success.”
The industry is understandably very interested in what this development could mean for the Enterprise IoT space. Dave Friedman, CEO, Ayla Networks, said about the acquisition, “The next frontier of the Internet is ‘things’ and, just like Google (News - Alert)'s acquisition of Nest proved great value in the consumer space, Cisco's acquisition of Jasper is a great statement of value in the B2B space.”
Mohammed will run the new IoT Software Business Unit under Rowan Trollope, SVP and GM, IoT and Collaboration Technology Group, Cisco. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.