Totalling $157 per share in cash, the deal will see networking, cloud and security conglomerate Cisco expand its application data monitoring and protection portfolio, as Splunk president and CEO Gary Steele joins the executive leadership team.
Complementary capabilities in AI, security and observability are collectively set to help business customers unlock value of data, as well as make infrastructure more secure.
Security analytics, as well as coverage from devices to applications to clouds, are among the portfolio components cited as areas of benefit.
As the acceleration and adoption of generative AI continues alongside expanding threat services in digital environments, the two organisations aim to accelerate Cisco’s strategy to securely connect applications and data across businesses.
“We’re excited to bring Cisco and Splunk together. Our combined capabilities will drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability,” said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco.
“From threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, we will help make organisations of all sizes more secure and resilient.”
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Gary Steele, president and CEO of Splunk, commented: “Uniting with Cisco represents the next phase of Splunk’s growth journey, accelerating our mission to help organisations worldwide become more resilient, while delivering immediate and compelling value to our shareholders.
“Together, we will form a global security and observability leader that harnesses the power of data and AI to deliver excellent customer outcomes and transform the industry.
“We’re thrilled to join forces with a long-time and trusted partner that shares our passion for innovation and world-class customer experience, and we expect our community of Splunk employees will benefit from even greater opportunities as we bring together two respected and purpose-driven organisations.”
Demand is rising for data management and protection, to drive value from unified data platforms combining cloud and on-premise environments, while maintaining digital resilience — challenges that Cisco and Splunk are looking to mitigate together.
A Splunk study, released earlier this year, found that just half of firms globally are fully ready to adapt operations and engage with customers during times of major disruption, either to address recession-related demands (52 per cent) or in response to competition (50 per cent).
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