Cisco acquires AppDynamics for $3.7bn just ahead of IPO

25 Jan 2017

Cisco headquarters in San Jose. Image: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock

Just days ahead of its IPO, app management company AppDynamics has been snapped up by Cisco for $3.7bn.

This is the latest big acquisition for Cisco, which acquired IoT communications player Jasper Technologies last year for $1.4bn.

AppDynamics was planning to start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select market on 26 January.

‘As companies across industries are expanding their digital infrastructure, IT departments are faced with vast amounts of complex, siloed data’
– ROB SALVAGNO

The IPO would have valued AppDynamics at more than $2bn.

However, Cisco has swooped in and the acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Cisco moves deeper into software

AppDynamics helps customers monitor the performance of business applications, competing with companies like New Relic.

The move is an important step for Cisco, which believes that the ongoing digital transformation is blending the worlds of IT and business like never before.

According to the head of corporate development at Cisco, Rob Salvagno, in the digital economy, applications are critical.

“Combining real-time visibility and intelligence at the network, security and application layers is transformational for companies. It can provide them with insight into the state of their business and most importantly, into the quality of their customers’ experiences.

“As companies across industries are expanding their digital infrastructure, IT departments are faced with vast amounts of complex, siloed data. AppDynamics helps many of the world’s largest enterprises translate this data into business insights and empowers them to drive value for their customers in today’s digital world.

Together with Cisco’s industry-leading digital network architecture, customers will now have unprecedented end-to-end insight across their technology stack, from infrastructure to application.

Cisco headquarters in San Jose. Image: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com