Extreme Networks acquires Brocade Communications data centre business
Wed 1 Nov 2017
Californian networking firm Extreme Networks has completed its acquisition of Brocade Communication Systems’ data centre business.
The purchase gives over Brocade’s data centre switching, routing and analytics business to Extreme, a portfolio of services and solutions that are currently used by enterprise business and service providers.
Extreme has pursued a strong acquisition policy across recent years, which it says is part of its strategy to be a leader in the networking industry, ‘from the data centre to the wireless edge’. This acquisition, it believes, will place Extreme as number one in the enterprise networking market. Previous acquisitions include Zebra Technologies’ WLAN business and Avaya’s networking business.
This purchase transfers a diverse set of assets from Brocade to Extreme, including Workflow Composer and automation suites. It will also provide Extreme with Brocade’s existing staff and customer relationship.
According to Extreme, all of this will serve to enhance the data centre solutions that it provides, noting that it serves a wide range of industries, from hospitality and retail to manufacturing, government and education.
Extreme CEO and president, Ed Meyercord, commented: “This is an exciting day for Extreme as we have now significantly strengthened our position in the expanding high-end data centre market with the industry-leading solution for enterprise customers.
“Through a series of acquisitions, Extreme is now a top player in the enterprise networking industry and expects to generate over $1 billion in annual revenues.”
Nabil Bukhari, formerly Brocade’s VP for data centre, now at Extreme, said: “Our strategic vision has been closely aligned with Extreme Networks’ vision throughout this process.
“Extreme’s commitment to build on the innovation and momentum that we have achieved, including a completely refreshed data centre portfolio over the past year, will provide our new and existing customers and partners with business continuity that enables them to accelerate digital transformation.”
The company expects the acquisition to generate more than $230 million in annualised revenue from the acquisition.
