SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), whose core business is selling the routers and switches that direct data traffic over computer networks, said it has acquired a small social networking company that allows businesses to create MySpace-like communities on their Web sites.
Cisco said Friday that it was paying an undisclosed amount to acquire privately held Five Across Inc., an 11-person San Francisco company whose software allows companies to add user-interaction functions and multimedia-sharing capabilities to their Web sites.
Five Across' publishing platform allows users to create personal Web pages and post photos, videos and audio clips, much like the proprietary system used by News Corp. (NWS)'s MySpace.
Cisco said the acquisition, its 116th since 1993, is the company's first in the social networking space but likely not the last. The deal is expected to close within the current fiscal quarter.
Analysts said the acquisition helps further Cisco's expansion beyond its role as purely a network equipment provider and into helping distribute the media that drives bandwidth consumption and even more network upgrades.
Danielle Levitas, a senior analyst at market researcher IDC, said the Five Across acquisition could help Cisco win greater access to a wide range of companies, particularly those in media and entertainment, looking to upgrade their Web sites to connect with customers.
"I actually see this as benefiting their core business - if they can promote users using their broadband more, that's huge for them," Levitas said.
Cisco has profited mightily in recent quarters from surging sales of its routers and switches as service providers and other companies scramble to upgrade their networks to prepare for the next generation of video and other bandwidth-intensive downloads.
Cisco, which was sitting on nearly $21 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter, has been rapidly expanding by acquiring companies that capitalize on the products and services that utilize the network itself.
The company's largest recent acquisition was its $6.9 billion purchase last year of Scientific-Atlanta Inc., the world's second-largest cable television box seller.
Last month, Cisco also announced it was paying $830 million in cash and stock to acquire IronPort Systems Inc., a maker of anti-spam and antivirus security products. That deal is also expected to close in the current quarter.
Investors have cheered the San Jose-based company's robust earnings growth, sending its shares up 45 percent from a year ago and creating more than $51 billion in additional shareholder wealth.
Cisco's stock closed up 5 cents to $28.14 on Thursday before the acquisition was announced.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, SEHK: 4333) is a global company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, that designs and sells networking and communications technology and services under three brands: Cisco, Linksys, and Scientific Atlanta. Initially, Cisco manufactured only enterprise multi-protocol routers, but today Cisco's products can be found everywhere from the living room to the enterprise to service provider networks. Cisco's vision is "Changing the Way We Live, Work, Play and Learn." Cisco's current tagline is "Welcome to the human network.".
Corporate history
Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner (Bachelor of Science from California State University, Chico, Masters in Econometrics from Claremont University, Masters in Statistics and Computer Science from Stanford University), a married couple that worked in computer operations staff at Stanford University, founded Cisco Systems in 1984. Bosack adapted multiple-protocol router software originally written by William Yeager, another staff employee who had begun the work years before Bosack arrived from the University of Pennsylvania, where Bosack had received his bachelor's degree.
While Cisco was not the first company to develop and sell a router (a device that forwards computer traffic between two or more networks), it did create the first commercially successful multi-protocol router to allow previously incompatible computers to communicate using different network protocols. As the Internet Protocol (IP) has become a standard, the importance of multi-protocol routing as a function has declined. Today, Cisco's largest routers are marketed to route primarily IP packets and MPLS frames.
In 1990, the company went public and was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Bosack and Lerner walked away from the company with $170 million and later divorced.
During the Internet boom in 1999, the company acquired Cerent Corp., a start-up company located in Petaluma, California, for about $7 billion. It was the most expensive acquisition made by Cisco at that time. The only bigger acquisition is Scientific Atlanta.
In late March 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, Cisco was the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalisation of more than $500 billion. In 2007, with a market cap of about $165 billion, it is still one of the most valuable companies.
Using acquisitions, internal development, and partnering with other companies, Cisco has made inroads into many network equipment markets outside routing, including Ethernet switching, remote access, branch office routers, ATM networking, security, IP telephony, and others. In 2003, Cisco acquired Linksys, a popular manufacturer of computer networking hardware and positioned it as a leading brand for the home and end user networking market (SOHO).
Cisco has set up Cisco Networking Academies in 150 countries aimed at teaching students to design and maintain computer networks.
Cisco provides certifications to professionals in the networking field. These include:
CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)
CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
CCDP (Cisco Certified Design Professional)
CCIP (Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional)
CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional)
CCVP (Cisco Certified Voice Professional)
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate)
CCSI (Cisco Certified Systems Instructor)
The company has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California, and also many outposts in other countries. The company was a 2002-03 recipient of the Ron Brown Award. Origin of the Cisco name
Cisco Logo used until 2006
The name "Cisco" is an abbreviation of San Francisco. According to John Morgridge, employee 34 and the company's former president, the founders hit on the name and logo while driving to Sacramento to register the company -- they saw the Golden Gate Bridge framed in the sunlight.
The name cisco Systems (with the lowercase "c") continued in use within the engineering community at the company long after the official company name was changed to Cisco Systems, Inc. Users of Cisco products can still see the name ciscoSystems occasionally in bug reports and IOS messages.
The company's logo reflects its San Francisco name heritage: it represents a stylized Golden Gate Bridge. In October 2006, Cisco publicly launched a new logo that is graphically simpler and more stylized than the original.
A partial list of products
Hardware
Application Network Services
Broadband Cable products: uBR7100 series, uBR7200 series, uBR10012 CMTSes. A line of Cable Modems, the uBR900 series and CVA122 series, were also made in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but have since been discontinued.
Clean Access Server
Content Networking
DSL & Long Reach Ethernet
Interoperability Systems
Cisco LocalDirector load-balancing appliance
Optical Networking series: 15xxx Series: 15302, 15305, 15310, 15327, 15454, 15600, 1580x, 15900(wavelength router, but end for sale)
Routers: SB107, 700, 800, 1000, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2500, 2600, 2800, 3600, 3700, 3800, 4500, 4700, 7000, 7100, 7200, 7300, 7400, 7500, 7600, 10000, 12000, and CRS-1
Security & VPN products: Anomaly Detection and Mitigation Appliances, Cisco AVS 3110 Application Velocity System, Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances, Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliances, Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrators, Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series/7600 Series WebVPN Services Module, IPSec VPN Services Module (VPNSM) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches and Cisco 7600 Series Routers
Server Networking & Virtualization
SPA Phone Adapters
Storage networking
Switches
Catalyst series: 500 Express, 1200, 1600, 1700, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2800, 29xx, 3000, 35xx, 37xx, 40xx, 45xx, 5xxx, 6xxx, etc..
Metro Ethernet ME 3400 Series Access Switches
MGX 8800 Series Multiservice Switches: MGX 8830, MGX 8850
MDS 9000 Series Multilayer SAN Switches
Universal Gateways & Access Servers
Video
Voice & IP Communications: 7900 Series IP Phones: 7936, 7906G, 7912G, 7911G, 7920, 7921G, 7911G, 7921G, 7931G, 7940G, 7941G, 7941G-GE, 7960G, 7961G, 7961G-GE, 7970G, 7971G-GE and 7985G
Wireless: Wireless Integrated Switches and Routers,Wireless IP Telephony, Wireless LAN Access, Aironet Wireless Bridges and Workgroup Bridges, Cisco Wireless LAN Client Adapters, Wireless LAN Controllers, Wireless Network Management, Wireless LAN Management, Wireless Security Servers, Wireless IP Phone 7920
Software
Cisco CallManager
Cisco Emergency Responder
Cisco IP Transfer Point (ITP)
Cisco Multimedia Conference Manager (MCM)
Cisco Fabric Manager
CiscoView
CiscoWorks Network Management software
IP SLAs
Cisco Intelligent Contact Management
Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)
Cisco Access Registrar (AR)
Cisco Security MARS (Monitoring, Analysis and Response System)
Cisco Clean Access Agent, Cisco Clean Access Manager, Cisco NAC Appliance
Content Loadbalancers (acquired from Arrowpoint)
Content Engine
Wireless LAN Solution Engine
VPN Concentrator
Packet Tracer
Cisco IP/TV
Cisco IP/VC
Cisco CallManager Express (CCME)
Cisco Unified Contact Center
Cisco MeetingPlace
Cisco Unity
Cisco Unity Express
Cisco Secure Desktop
Cisco Security Manager
Cisco Transport Manager
Cisco Router and Security Device Manager
Cisco Enhanced Device Interface
Wireless Control System
