Riverbed Technology has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Xirrus, the provider of next-generation Wi-Fi networks. The company
plans to offer Xirrus solutions through its partner ecosystem. The
acquisition is expected to close in April 2017, and financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition of the privately-held company will expand Riverbed’s software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and cloud networking solution Riverbed SteelConnect with the integration of a robust suite of advanced, high density and cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions. Riverbed customers and partners will then have access to unified connectivity and policy-based orchestration that spans the entire distributed network – WAN, LAN/WLAN, data centre and the cloud. Riverbed will also continue to offer Xirrus as a standalone enterprise WLAN solution.
“Xirrus is a strategic acquisition for Riverbed, providing us with a leading enterprise-grade Wi-Fi solution, and enhancing SteelConnect to deliver an unmatched SD-WAN offering that will help further fuel our growth in this hot market,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed Chairman and CEO. “In today’s digital, cloud, and mobile world, enterprise networks are more complex and unpredictable than ever before and IT is struggling to manage all of this. A fundamental rethink to networking is required and with this acquisition, Riverbed and our partners are uniquely positioned to provide CIOs and businesses with a software-defined networking approach that delivers unified connectivity and orchestration across the entire network.”
Riverbed SteelConnect is a SD-WAN solution offering that is both simple and flexible to use. It helps to manage the entire network fabric with policy-based orchestration and connects easily to AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms. By adding Xirrus, the power of policy-based orchestration by SteelConnect will be further extended to the wireless edge.
“Legacy approaches to network management have become completely untenable. IT must move beyond the days of managing individual network devices using arcane command line interface (CLI) commands and scripts and instead move to software-defined approaches that are based on global policies, automation and orchestration,” said Paul O’Farrell, Senior VP, Riverbed SteelConnect, SteelHead and SteelFusion Business Unit.
“The SteelConnect offering is unique in that it is the first SD-WAN solution that has extended the power of policy-based orchestration out to the broader reaches of the distributed network. By combining the advanced Wi-Fi capabilities of Xirrus and SteelConnect’s intuitive and powerful orchestration, we’re taking a bold step to bring the power of policy-based network management out to the wireless edge.”
Xirrus’ technology offers consistent “wired-like” performance with superior coverage and security. The Xirrus suite of Wi-Fi solutions – high density access points, access points and cloud services – provide seamless connectivity and unified management across the network. With solutions deployed on tens of thousands of networks and hundreds of thousands of cloud instances, Xirrus customers include some of the best known brands, including Microsoft, and the Liverpool Football Club.
“Together with Riverbed, we embrace a tremendous opportunity to create the world’s first SD-WAN solution that covers the core to the edge of the network,” said Shane Buckley, CEO of Xirrus. “The integration of our solutions combines best-of-breed federated identity and application control with differentiated SD-WAN technology, addressing the stringent requirements of today’s cloud, mobile and digital world."
“A key facet of network transformation is convergence at the enterprise branch as IT/network managers look to unify network operations and management across wired and wireless LANs and WANs, all within the context of a cloud-enabled architecture,” said Rohit Mehra, Research VP, Network Infrastructure, IDC. “With this acquisition, Riverbed is well positioned to address this shift, adding an enterprise-grade WLAN solution to a broader enterprise branch offering with SD-WAN that also integrates industry-leading WAN optimisation and visibility.”
In January 2016, Riverbed acquired Ocedo Networks, a SD-WAN provider to accelerate the delivery of Riverbed’s next-gen networking solutions, and launched SteelConnect as an early access offering in April 2016, which included “one-click” connectivity to AWS. In September 2016, Riverbed announced general availability of SteelConnect 2.0 which included integrated visibility with Riverbed SteelCentral.
In early 2017, Riverbed added “one-click” secure connectivity to Microsoft Azure, integration with the WAN optimisation solution Riverbed SteelHead SD, and a new offering for large-scale data centre deployments. Today, Riverbed has over 300 SD-WAN customers spanning industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, finance, and technology.
The acquisition of the privately-held company will expand Riverbed’s software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and cloud networking solution Riverbed SteelConnect with the integration of a robust suite of advanced, high density and cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions. Riverbed customers and partners will then have access to unified connectivity and policy-based orchestration that spans the entire distributed network – WAN, LAN/WLAN, data centre and the cloud. Riverbed will also continue to offer Xirrus as a standalone enterprise WLAN solution.
“Xirrus is a strategic acquisition for Riverbed, providing us with a leading enterprise-grade Wi-Fi solution, and enhancing SteelConnect to deliver an unmatched SD-WAN offering that will help further fuel our growth in this hot market,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed Chairman and CEO. “In today’s digital, cloud, and mobile world, enterprise networks are more complex and unpredictable than ever before and IT is struggling to manage all of this. A fundamental rethink to networking is required and with this acquisition, Riverbed and our partners are uniquely positioned to provide CIOs and businesses with a software-defined networking approach that delivers unified connectivity and orchestration across the entire network.”
Riverbed SteelConnect is a SD-WAN solution offering that is both simple and flexible to use. It helps to manage the entire network fabric with policy-based orchestration and connects easily to AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms. By adding Xirrus, the power of policy-based orchestration by SteelConnect will be further extended to the wireless edge.
“Legacy approaches to network management have become completely untenable. IT must move beyond the days of managing individual network devices using arcane command line interface (CLI) commands and scripts and instead move to software-defined approaches that are based on global policies, automation and orchestration,” said Paul O’Farrell, Senior VP, Riverbed SteelConnect, SteelHead and SteelFusion Business Unit.
“The SteelConnect offering is unique in that it is the first SD-WAN solution that has extended the power of policy-based orchestration out to the broader reaches of the distributed network. By combining the advanced Wi-Fi capabilities of Xirrus and SteelConnect’s intuitive and powerful orchestration, we’re taking a bold step to bring the power of policy-based network management out to the wireless edge.”
Xirrus’ technology offers consistent “wired-like” performance with superior coverage and security. The Xirrus suite of Wi-Fi solutions – high density access points, access points and cloud services – provide seamless connectivity and unified management across the network. With solutions deployed on tens of thousands of networks and hundreds of thousands of cloud instances, Xirrus customers include some of the best known brands, including Microsoft, and the Liverpool Football Club.
“Together with Riverbed, we embrace a tremendous opportunity to create the world’s first SD-WAN solution that covers the core to the edge of the network,” said Shane Buckley, CEO of Xirrus. “The integration of our solutions combines best-of-breed federated identity and application control with differentiated SD-WAN technology, addressing the stringent requirements of today’s cloud, mobile and digital world."
“A key facet of network transformation is convergence at the enterprise branch as IT/network managers look to unify network operations and management across wired and wireless LANs and WANs, all within the context of a cloud-enabled architecture,” said Rohit Mehra, Research VP, Network Infrastructure, IDC. “With this acquisition, Riverbed is well positioned to address this shift, adding an enterprise-grade WLAN solution to a broader enterprise branch offering with SD-WAN that also integrates industry-leading WAN optimisation and visibility.”
In January 2016, Riverbed acquired Ocedo Networks, a SD-WAN provider to accelerate the delivery of Riverbed’s next-gen networking solutions, and launched SteelConnect as an early access offering in April 2016, which included “one-click” connectivity to AWS. In September 2016, Riverbed announced general availability of SteelConnect 2.0 which included integrated visibility with Riverbed SteelCentral.
In early 2017, Riverbed added “one-click” secure connectivity to Microsoft Azure, integration with the WAN optimisation solution Riverbed SteelHead SD, and a new offering for large-scale data centre deployments. Today, Riverbed has over 300 SD-WAN customers spanning industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, finance, and technology.
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