In the largest tech merger so far this year, Cisco announced the acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk for a stock trade worth an estimated $28 Billion.
Splunk offers a powerful software platform that collects and indexes data from various IT systems and infrastructures, allowing users to generate visualizations, dashboards, and alerts to monitor their systems and gain operational intelligence.
Splunk can also help companies identify security threats by collecting logs from firewalls, servers, etc., and scanning for anomalies and breaches.
For example, a retail company could use Splunk to monitor all their online sales systems and get alerted to any slowdowns or outages.
Since Cisco was founded in 1984, the company has morphed from a network hardware behemoth into a trusted cybersecurity company helping companies fend off attacks.
But the new frontier in the cyber wars is data-related and Splunk will offer Cisco clients a nice one-two punch for faster recognition and resolution.
“We’re excited to bring Cisco and Splunk together. Our combined capabilities will drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability,” said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco.
So if you read between the lines, Cisco not only gets a powerful platform to analyze huge data sets to spot anomalies and fraud, but it also gives the company a much stronger AI play in a world where stock valuation can be supercharged by the mere mention of artificial intelligence.
Splunk President and CEO Gary Steele added, “Together, we will form a global security and observability leader that harnesses the power of data and AI to deliver excellent customer outcomes and transform the industry.”
Cisco’s stock fell on the news of the acquisition.
Leave a Reply