Cisco Systems agreed to acquire dynamicsoft, a start-up offering SIP-based carrier solutions, for $55 million in cash, which includes the assumption of outstanding debt in the amount of $3.8 million, as well as working capital. dynamicsoft's product set includes three main components:
- a "Presence Engine" that creates "subscriber awareness" by collecting, managing and distributing real-time user and device status to applications and users on an as-needed basis.
- an "AppEngine" for integrating voice, video, web, presence, instant messaging and email capabilities - over packet-based wireline and wireless networks. It uses SIP and Java.
- a "Service Engine" that integrates capabilities such as authentication, authorization, call routing, compression, application failover, and data management to be leveraged by multiple applications simultaneously.
Cisco said the acquisition strengthens its portfolio for the broadband communications market, including elements of wireless/wireline convergence, enabling service providers to build "subscriber aware" networks capable of delivering the next generation of VoIP applications and services.
Upon close of the acquisition, the dynamicsoft organization will report to Don Proctor, vice president and general manager of Cisco's voice technology group. http://www.cisco.comhttp://www.dynamicsoft.com
- dynamicsoft was founded in 1998 and has 104 employees. The company is based in Parsippany, New Jersey.
- Jonathan Rosenberg, the company's CTO, co-authored the SIP standard and has led many IP telephony and SIP efforts within the IETF. Dean Willis, dynamicsoft fellow, co-chairs the SIP and SIPPING working groups in the IETF, while providing strong leadership for the SIP activities in Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). Robert Sparks, senior software architect for dynamicsoft, is the co-chair of the SIMPLE working group in the IETF.
- Dynamicsoft has previously listed Vonage as a lead customer for its Route Engine Platform, which is a carrier-class solution designed to route large volumes of calls.
- Cisco's other acquisitions in 2004 have included:
NetSolv, a provider of remote network and IT infrastructure management services for businesses
P-Cube, a developer of IP service control platforms, for approximately $200 million in cash and options.
Procket, a developer of concurrent services routers with expertise in silicon and software development, for approximately $89 million in cash.
Parc Technologies, a spin off from a renowned center for research into search algorithms based at Imperial College, University of London, for $9 million. Parc's Route Server algorithms address network routing problems involving complex Quality of Service constraints.
Actona Technologies, a start-up developing software that facilitates data management across geographically distributed offices, for approximately $82 million in cash.
Riverhead Networks, a start-up offering security technology that protects against Distributed Denial of Service ("DDoS") attacks and other security threats in enterprise and service provider networks, for approximately $39 million in cash.
Twingo Systems, a start-up developing desktop security solutions for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), for approximately $5 million in cash.
