But Only If Cisco Doesn’t Strangle Innovation
By John Kindervag, Rick Holland with Stephanie Balaouras, Heidi Shey, Kelley Mak
On July 23, 2013, Cisco announced its acquisition of network security specialist Sourcefire for $2.7 billion. With the acquisition of Sourcefire, Cisco confirms that customers do in fact want consolidated network security appliances, not standalone appliances for intrusion protection, firewalls, and other security functionality. It also confirms that its repeated attempts to re-engineer its legacy security appliances to be competitive in today’s market have failed and that it was necessary to reach outside the organization to bring in innovation. This is not much of a shock to veteran Cisco watchers, as the company has been aggressively rebuilding its security business unit, most notably by bringing in seasoned leadership from outside Cisco itself. Sourcefire is an established brand in the security industry and should bring some luster back to Cisco’s tarnished image. In this Quick Take, we provide our analysis of what the acquisition means for Cisco, security and risk (S&R) professionals considering Cisco solutions, competitors, and the trajectory of the market itself.
Via Forest Research
