Splunk mines data for insights, including security threats, making it a more important company during the work-from-home surge
Rumors are circulating that Cisco Systems has made a multi-billion-dollar offer to purchase software maker Splunk. First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the $20 billion deal is apparently not official, and the two companies are merely in discussions.
Splunk, which was founded in 2003 and mines data for insights, including security threats, has become more prominent as the pandemic forced more employees to conduct their work online, resulting in an increase in cyberattacks. The company is undergoing a shift, however, to focus more on the booming market of cloud computing.
While not confirmed or active, the deal doesn’t come as much of a surprise given Cisco’s reputation for acquisitions. As the New York Times puts it, the company “is known as a serial acquirer” that “effectively us[es] acquisitions as a complement to research and development.”
At the end of 2020, for instance, Cisco acquired cloud communications software and service company IMImobile for approximately $730 million, a move that allowed the tech company to provide its business customers with an end-to-end customer interaction management solution. Other deals include semiconductor company Luxtera, IoT application intelligence company AppDynamics and cloud intelligence company ThousandEyes, whose resources are used in Cisco’s SD-WAN solution offerings.
