Cisco Heating Up IoT with Jasper Acquisition

With IoT being the latest buzz in the IT sector, companies are going full-on to implement technologies that facilitate the development and deployment of IoT devices for everyone. Apart from Intel, IBM and other blue chip companies, Cisco has joined the IoT race by buying Jasper Technologies.

Jasper Technologies Inc., an IoT startup that creates a software IoT platform for devices such as cars and medical instruments on the internet, makes it easier for companies to connect (and monitor) their physical products to the cloud. The company has an estimated 3500 enterprise clients and 27 service providers as partners in more than 100 countries.

Cisco Systems Inc., known best for their networking prowess, is going to acquire the company for $1.4 billion in cash and equity, the largest acquisition since Cisco acquired Sourcefire in 2013 for $2.7 billion.

"We've been keeping an eye on this market and what we noticed was that Jasper represented a unique asset. We believe they are the largest Internet of Things service platform of scale today," says Rob Salvangno, VP of Corporate Development at Cisco.

Both companies stated that the combined products of both companies will be a powerhouse for the IoT world in the future. Cisco has the necessary back-end infrastructure for companies to build systems on private and public clouds along with analytics and collaboration software and services, while Jasper provides a platform for products to be connected and managed in a cloud-based environment through mobile networks and SaaS software.

"It gives customers everything they need to build connected businesses. What that means is that our customer can connect a car, a jet engine, a pacemaker or an ankle bracelet easily. Our customers are sprinting toward this connected future, but complexity is hobbling this progress," said Rowan Trollope, Senior VP and GM of the IoT and Collaboration Technology Group at Cisco.

After the acquisition, Jahangir Mohammed (CEO of Jasper Technologies) will take care of the new IoT Business Unit at Cisco under the supervision of Trollope. The plan is to improve the IoT platform provided by Jasper by adding more features such as analytics, security and enterprise WiFi.

Cisco has been investing heavily in IoT, along with other companies like Intel making platforms for IoT and mobile. IDC Analysts estimate the spending on IoT to be about $1.3 trillion by the year 2019. Cisco estimates the impact of IoT on all markets will be about $19 trillion by 2020, with more than 25 billion devices being connected to the cloud.