In a deal designed to flesh out its Internet of Things platform, Cisco Systems is putting up $1.4 billion to buy Jasper Technologies, a company founded in 2004 that has developed a cloud-based IoT service that's been deployed by a large group of enterprise partners and service providers.
Jasper manages connected devices (everything from cars, vending machines, jet engines, implanted pacemakers, and printers) and services for more than 3,500 enterprises worldwide, and works with 27 service provider groups, Cisco said. Japser’s customers include Alarm.com, China Unicom, Garmin, Vivint, Nissan, Amazon, GM, Heineken, Ford, and Starbucks.
Jasper CEO Jahangir Mohammed will head up the new IoT Software Business Unit at Cisco under Rowan Trollope, Cisco’s senior vice president and general manager, IoT and Collaboration Technology Group.
Cisco said the acquisition of the Santa Clara-based company, expected to close in the third quarter of its fiscal Q3, will help it to complete an IoT platform that interoperates with a variety of devices, IoT service providers and app developers.
“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, Cisco’s CEO, in a statement. “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.”
Former Cisco CEO John Chambers declared at the 2014 CES that the Internet of Things represents a $19 trillion opportunity.
