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Cisco Systems Inc agreed to buy Splunk Inc in a deal valued at about $28 billion. The deal represents the company’s biggest acquisition yet and a massive push into software and artificial intelligence-powered data analysis. In a statement, the global networking giant Cisco announced it is acquiring Splunk, the leader in cybersecurity and observability. Cisco and Splunk are two leaders with complementary capabilities across AI, security, and observability. The two companies had held talks in the past, but discussions fell apart last year, Bloomberg reported.
Upon close of the acquisition, Splunk’s CEO, Gary Steele, will join Cisco’s executive leadership team and report to Cisco chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins. “We have incredible momentum, and this will be strengthened further with the addition of Splunk to our team. Together, we will bring trusted innovation leadership, an outstanding go-to-market engine, and a world-class culture that will help our customers move with greater speed to rapidly unlock new opportunities ahead,” Robbins said in a blog post.
“Combined, Cisco and Splunk will become one of the world’s largest software companies and will accelerate Cisco’s business transformation to more recurring revenue,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Why the deal is important
The deal is also arguably just as much a bet on artificial intelligence as it is on the business of software and data security. Earlier this year, Splunk announced a new line of AI offerings that it said would, among other things, allow companies to detect and respond to anomalies in their data faster. The merger offers the companies’ AI products “substantial scale” and more visibility into data, they said in a joint statement.
The acquisition, as per a report in Bloomberg, could help Cisco find the recurring, subscription-based software revenues it has been seeking, Jin Ho said. Splunk, which can analyze the health of an underlying network in data centers and is moving to cloud-based products, would help Cisco manage the complexity of the cloud.
Robbins said that the IT landscape has drastically changed as organisations around the world have digitised their businesses, and it will continue to evolve at an even more rapid pace with the acceleration and adoption of AI.
“The Cisco Security Cloud has visibility into vast amounts of security data — network data, identities, emails, web traffic, endpoints, and processes. With Splunk, Cisco is adding one of the world’s best data platforms to Cisco’s robust security portfolio,” he noted.
The combination of Splunk and Cisco will help businesses move from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, making organisations of all sizes more secure and resilient.
Upon close of the acquisition, Splunk’s CEO, Gary Steele, will join Cisco’s executive leadership team and report to Cisco chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins. “We have incredible momentum, and this will be strengthened further with the addition of Splunk to our team. Together, we will bring trusted innovation leadership, an outstanding go-to-market engine, and a world-class culture that will help our customers move with greater speed to rapidly unlock new opportunities ahead,” Robbins said in a blog post.
“Combined, Cisco and Splunk will become one of the world’s largest software companies and will accelerate Cisco’s business transformation to more recurring revenue,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Why the deal is important
The deal is also arguably just as much a bet on artificial intelligence as it is on the business of software and data security. Earlier this year, Splunk announced a new line of AI offerings that it said would, among other things, allow companies to detect and respond to anomalies in their data faster. The merger offers the companies’ AI products “substantial scale” and more visibility into data, they said in a joint statement.
The acquisition, as per a report in Bloomberg, could help Cisco find the recurring, subscription-based software revenues it has been seeking, Jin Ho said. Splunk, which can analyze the health of an underlying network in data centers and is moving to cloud-based products, would help Cisco manage the complexity of the cloud.
Robbins said that the IT landscape has drastically changed as organisations around the world have digitised their businesses, and it will continue to evolve at an even more rapid pace with the acceleration and adoption of AI.
“The Cisco Security Cloud has visibility into vast amounts of security data — network data, identities, emails, web traffic, endpoints, and processes. With Splunk, Cisco is adding one of the world’s best data platforms to Cisco’s robust security portfolio,” he noted.
The combination of Splunk and Cisco will help businesses move from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, making organisations of all sizes more secure and resilient.
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