Riverbed is a well known name in the WAN optimization market, and increasingly in the SD-WAN space as well. The company recently acquired Xirrus. It may seem like a curious move to acquire wireless assets. But Tom Hollingsworth does a great job of putting it into the perspective of Riverbed’s existing business. He sees the wireless edge as the next market for them to expand into. Given the success Riverbed has had integrating Ocedo assets into their SteelHead line, I think the company is capable of moving into a new market.
Enterprises are only going to rely on wireless more as time goes by. It’s a wise move by Riverbed to move into this space while there’s still plenty of time to define the market. How long it’ll take for Riverbed to integrate the assets from Xirrus is an open question, but given the speed they moved on Ocedo, I would image they’ll look to be fairly aggressive.
Tom Hollingsworth comments:
The announcement this week that Riverbed is buying Xirrus was a huge sign that the user-facing edge of the network is the new battleground for SDN and SD-WAN adoption. Riverbed is coming off a number of recent acquisitions in the SDN space, including Ocedo just over a year ago. So, why then, would Riverbed chase down a wireless company when they’re so focused on the wiring behind the walls?
Read more at: The Future Of SDN Is Up In The Air
