Cisco has announced its intention to buy operations analytics and machine learning business Perspica, which will work alongside the also recently acquired AppDynamics.
Startup Perspica's technology and data scientists will be integrated into Cisco's business to help speed up the time it takes to find flaws in a company's corporate infrastructure, including servers, to make sure the business runs more smoothly, with as little disruption as possible.
"From a technology perspective, Perspica brings a lot to the table," said Bhaskar Sunkara, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Product Management at AppDynamics. "Perspica is known for its stream-based processing with the unique ability to apply machine learning to data as it comes in instead of waiting until it's neatly stored."
He explained that this, alongside the company's knowledge of domain-specific machine learning, means it can process huge swathes of data, ensuring the insights it provides are as accurate as they possibly can be.
"Couple these characteristics with AppDynamics' core data model for Business Transactions and it opens up a world of possibilities for the scale and speed of our product," Sunkara added. "Ultimately, it will enable us to deliver our vision for the future of performance that is infinitely scalable and ridiculously fast to keep pace with developments in the enterprise."
Perspica's engineers will be integrated into AppDyamics' team, boosting its data science talent and helping to develop its stream-based processing and domain-specific machine learning facilities and strengthen its APM solution.
Perspica has been able to secure $8.5 million (6.4m) in funding since its formation in 2014, momentum that Cisco will be relying on to reverse its recent financial woes. Revenue growth stagnated in 2016, while 2017 saw turnover drop 2.5% to $48 billion, and profits fall by 10% to $10.5 billion.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2018.
