Cisco adds to its app acceleration arsenal

Cisco offers its own XML inspection products as part of its Application Oriented Networking (AON) initiative to deliver application-fluent network devices. But so far Cisco’s foray into application-level processing hasn’t gained a lot of traction with customers, according to Ron Schmelzer, a senior analyst with research firm ZapThink.

Schmelzer told my colleague, Phil Hochmuth, the Reactivity deal might lift the profile of Cisco’s XML-based AON technology: “It’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic,” he said.

Read more at: NetworkWorld

Cisco Snaps Up Reactivity to Boost Web 2.0 Plans

The purchase of Reactivity is another sign of consolidation in the Web 2.0 field, as big fish continue to gobble up smaller players, Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink, an advisory firm focused on service-oriented architecture and Web services, told the E-Commerce Times. It also demonstrates Cisco’s commitment to broadening its horizons beyond its foundation as a networking hardware vendor, he suggested.

“They’ve been trying to do stuff around this whole AON (Application-Oriented Networking) thing and I would say it really hasn’t been that much of a success,” Schmelzer claimed. What’s unknown is whether AON’s lackluster performance for Cisco is due to the company’s inability to push it through its existing channel or due to product functionality, he said.

By bringing a proven XML vendor into its house, Cisco will certainly have the wares. So if it still struggles in making Web 2.0 inroads, it will not be due to lack of product, said Schmelzer. “Now that they have Reactivity, we should see if they are successful. When you acquire a company for $135 million, obviously you want a return on your investment,” he declared.

Read more at: ECommerce Times

Cisco Gobbles Up Reactivity

The consolidation trend in the SOA market is continuing. Cisco Systems announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Reactivity, a privately held XML gateway provider, expanding its product portfolio along the Application Networking Services segment of its Service-Oriented Network Architecture strategy.

“Reactivity adds robust security and policy management capabilities to the Cisco platform where it was sorely lacking. Indeed, it seems that the AON [Application-Oriented Networking] platform movement hasn’t yet resulted in as much market traction as originally supposed, and so it’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic,” said Ronald Schmelzer, a senior analyst with ZapThink.

Read more at: SD Times

Cisco bolsters SOA with Reactivity buy

“The AON platform movement hasn’t yet resulted in as much market traction as originally supposed,” says Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst with ZapThink. “It’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic.”

Read more at: InfoWorld

Cisco To Acquire XML Gateway Provider Reactivity

“Reactivity adds robust security and policy management capabilities to the Cisco platform where it was sorely lacking,” Ronald Schmelzer, analyst for ZapThink, said in an email. Cisco’s application management platform hasn’t received the market traction as originally expected, so “it’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic.”

Read more at: Cisco To Acquire XML Gateway Provider Reactivity

Cisco Fills XML Processing Gap With Reactivity

ZapThink analyst Ronald Schmelzer said Reactivity would give Cisco robust security and policy management capabilities to the Cisco platform where it was sorely lacking.

“It seems that the AON platform movement hasn’t yet resulted in as much market traction as originally supposed, and so it’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic,” Schmelzer said.

Read more at: InternetNews

Cisco’s Reactivity Buy Further Consolidates SOA

This latest acquisition is further evidence that the markets for XML, Web services, and SOA are experiencing significant consolidation, said Ronald Schmelzer, an analyst with ZapThink. “With IBM adding Datapower to their lineup, Intel adding both Sarvega and Conformative, and F5 Networks further maturing their offerings, the addition of Reactivity to Cisco’s offerings goes a long way to signaling that we’re in the era of incumbents increasingly dominating the space once pioneered by the startups,” Schmelzer said. “Of course, there are certainly outstanding startups like Layer 7 Technologies, Forum Systems, and companies like Xambala and Tarari still making waves in the market.”

Moreover, Reactivity adds robust security and policy management capabilities to the Cisco platform where it was “sorely lacking,” Schmelzer added. “Indeed, it seems that the AON [Cisco's Application-Oriented Networking technology] platform movement hasn’t yet resulted in as much market traction as originally supposed, and so it’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic.”

Read more at: eWeek

Cisco Systems buys Reactivity in SOA networking play

Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink LLC, said the acquisition may help SONA gain traction that has so far eluded it.

“Specifically, Reactivity adds robust security and policy management capabilities to the Cisco platform where it was sorely lacking,” Schmelzer said. “Indeed, it seems that the SONA platform movement hasn’t yet resulted in as much market traction as originally supposed, and so it’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web Services traffic.”

Read more at: SearchWebServices

Cisco to acquire Reactivity for $135 million

Reactivity has policy management and threat management capabilities, and I think Cisco is going to benefit from that,” said Jason Bloomberg, a senior analyst with Baltimore, Md.-based research firm ZapThink. “They don’t have a standalone XML firewall product, but they have XML firewall capabilities.”

Read more at: SearchSecurity

Cisco buys Reactivity for $135 million to bolster SOA offerings

While Cisco’s XML-based AON technology has not gained a lot of traction with customers, observers say the SOA networking market is still potentially lucrative. ZapThink, a research firm focused on enterprise SOA, predicts the market for XML optimization technology will reach $1.2 billion by the end of the decade. The company also predicts that Web services traffic will make up around 48% of all enterprise traffic by next year.

Read more at: NetworkWorld