Riverbed to acquire Xirrus WiFi for SD-WAN functionality
Thu 20 Apr 2017
Riverbed Technologies has announced the signing of a deal to acquire Xirrus, a cloud WiFi network provider, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition of Xirrus is intended to strengthen Riverbed’s existing software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) offering by combining unified cross-network connectivity with Xirrus’ enterprise-level WiFi functionality.
In April 2016 Riverbed launched SteelConnect, an application-defined SD-WAN product to orchestrate the delivery of applications across hybrid WANs, remote local area networks (LANs), across data centers, and in the cloud. SteelConnect allows enterprises to implement centralized network management by using SD-WAN and the cloud to connect business and data center locations, simplifying the deployment of new applications.
The acquisition of Xirrus adds enterprise-grade WiFi functionality to the SteelConnect product, extending the orchestration and network unification of SteelConnect’s SD-WAN to the wireless edge. The Xirrus suite includes high density access points and cloud services to provide seamless WiFi network connectivity to the end user.
Jerry M. Kennelly, Chairman and CEO of Riverbed, noted that it can be a struggle to manage increasingly unpredictable and complex enterprise networks. With the strategic acquisition of Xirrus, Riverbed is now “uniquely positioned to provide CIOs and businesses with a software-defined networking approach that delivers unified connectivity and orchestration across the entire network.”
Riverbed will add Xirrus functionality to the SteelConnect offering, but will also continue to offer Xirrus as a stand-alone enterprise WLAN solution. Current Xirrus customers include Microsoft, Paul Hastings Law Firm, and the Liverpool Football Club.
“Together with Riverbed, we embrace a tremendous opportunity to create the world’s first SD-WAN solution that covers the core to the edge of the network,” said Shane Buckley, CEO of Xirrus.
Earlier this year, Riverbed announced secure connectivity to Microsoft Azure and AWS using ‘one-click’ technology. At the same time, the company made SteelConnect available for large scale data center projects, allowing SD-WAN deployments in local and remote data center environments with non-disruptive network integration. Last month, the company achieved a Common Criteria 2+ accreditation in WAN network security from the U.S. federal government, demonstrating the company’s ability to provide network and data security while at the same time ensuring reliable connectivity for federal customers.
Paul O’Farrell, SVP at Riverhead said, “The SteelConnect offering is unique in that it is the first SD-WAN solution that has extended the power of policy-based orchestration out to the broader reaches of the distributed network. By combining the advanced Wi-Fi capabilities of Xirrus and SteelConnect’s intuitive and powerful orchestration, we’re taking a bold step to bring the power of policy-based network management out to the wireless edge.”
