Posted on April 9, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Case Studies | Corporate Strategy | Growth Strategy | Sector Watch
Tagged: Cisco Sytems , Flint Brenton , HP , Padmasree Warrior , Tidal Software

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Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is acquiring privately held Tidal Software Inc. for $105 million. The deal is part of Cisco's plan to boost its data center capabilities, putting it in direct competition with longtime partner IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM) as well as Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ).

Cisco chief technology officer, Padmasree Warrior, was even quoted as saying, "We're going to compete with HP. I don't want to sugarcoat that." She cited a change in the landscape of who companies compete and partner with.

Tidal Software CEO and president Flint Brenton says on the company Web site that its mission is to simplify scheduling and performance in all customer enterprises, regardless of data center complexity, which improves efficiency of IT operations and general application performance.

To simplify what all that means, Tidal is basically saying that using their software will help tech folks avoid calamities like in this comical video where the folks in an office react wildly to the performance of a sub-par data center.

Tidal, which has office in Palo Alto, Calif., and Houston, counts Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and even HP as a couple of its customers. It has been suggested that Cisco's data center plan could trigger an M&A wave in the industry. - Baz Hiralal

See the Cisco announcement
See that 'Blame the Tech Guy' video



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