Cisco gobbles Exchange-a-like vendor PostPath
- TAGS:Cisco, CSCO, Exchange, MAPI, PostPath
- IT TOPICS:Applications, Data Center, Enterprise Apps, Windows
In Thursday's IT Blogwatch, we wonder why Cisco is buying a tiny company called PostPath for $215 million -- could the networking giant be entering the Exchange-alternative market? Not to mention building a better mousetrap...
Tim Greene reports:
Cisco Systems Inc. is buying PostPath, a maker of e-mail and calendaring software, for $215 million and plans to add those capabilities to its on-demand Web Ex Connect collaboration platform.PostPath makes PostPath Server, a server that it touts as a replacement or
supplement to Microsoft Exchange ... PostPath requires no middleware to interoperate with Microsoft Outlook, Exchange, Active Directory, ActiveSynch and BlackBerry Enterprise Server, among other applications. But the company also promotes itself as a
Linux-based replacement for Exchange that gets around some of the Microsoft system's shortcomings.
...
Cisco plans to put the server in the cloud and sell an e-mail and calendaring service to its customers.
Om Malik adds:
In order to fight its ongoing battle against Microsoft and Google on the whole issue of “collaboration,” Cisco today added yet another weapon to its arsenal.
...
PostPath, a relatively unknown start-up based in Mountain View, Calif., makes a Linux-based e-mail system that includes an independent AJAX Web client and works well on mobile clients. OK, it’s nothing more than a Linux replacement for Microsoft Exchange, sort of like Zimbra, which got acquired by Yahoo last year for $350 million. It came out in stealth in 2006 and has operated under the radar for a long time. It recently announced that it worked with Apple’s iPhone.
...
Cisco is primarily a hardware company that makes a living selling switches and routers. Nevertheless the company has the sales force and the channels to dent Microsoft’s domination. Oh, this battle is more fun to watch than anything else out there.
Abusing his position, Richi Jennings opines:
Suddenly, things are getting interesting again in the Exchange-alternatives market ... Once again, Cisco makes a sound investment in an email technology vendor. Just like it did with IronPort. Great choice.These are the clever guys who reverse-engineered the Exchange client protocol, MAPI/RPC, and the related on-the-wire details needed to make a vanilla install of Outlook talk to a non-Exchange mail server with full fidelity. Impressive stuff ... Of all the other Exchange alternatives, PostPath has the most interesting architecture. And I say that as one who has years emotionally invested in the HP OpenMail technology ... All the others rely on additional software on the desktop.
...
I think Cisco fell out of love with Microsoft a while back. Something to do with VoIP support in Exchange and how Cisco thought it was Microsoft's partner but it turned out that Microsoft was competing with them ... Whoever said the email world has become dull and uninteresting?
Cisco's Doug Dennerline "blogs" via his PR mavens:
Communications, globalization and automation have flattened the world and transformed the competitive landscape. The traditional competitive advantages of size and scale have been replaced by speed and flexibility. In this new world, effective, adaptive collaboration is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage.Today’s acquisition of PostPath is part of our commitment to create a comprehensive cloud-based collaboration platform. By offering an on-demand version of the PostPath solution, we can provide flexible, cost-effective email and calendaring integrated with our collaboration portfolio of Cisco Unified Communications, WebEx and Business Video.
John Furrier strokes his keyboard:
What is Unified Communications? Is it Web 2.0 or old school VoIP. From the Cisco announcement it looks like Unified Communications is shaping up to be Web 2.0 with a business model.I’ve been saying that Web 2.0 is all about relationships - collaboration on the web is just that. This could be a great move for Cisco if they move fast to show benefits to users. Unfied Communications sector has been crippled lately because the benefits just aren’t being highlighted. The problems are compounded by the fact that no one can define Unified Communications.
Erick Schonfeld crunches the numbers:
Cisco will add PostPath’s functionality to its WebEx collaboration service (it bought WebEx for $3.2 billion last year).Not a bad outcome for a company whose software development team is based in Bulgaria. PostPath previously raised a total of $30 million. Its most recent round was a $15 million series C in January, 2007. Investors included JAFCO Ventures, Matrix Partners and Worldview Technology Partners.
As software moves to the cloud, Cisco wants to capture some of the higher margins that go along with that, as opossed to simply pushing boxes that quickly decline in value. Many of us already rely exclusively on Web-based email, but corporations are only now making the shift.
It's Claire Cain Miller and the Chambers of secrets: [You're fired -Ed.]
[This] comes as welcome news for venture capitalists in a year in which investors have been able to cash out of few start-up companies.
...
The acquisition is Cisco’s fourth this year, making it a slow year for the usually hungry company, which generally buys 10 to 15 companies annually. It’s not just Cisco that has been slowing down. It has been a tough year for young companies looking for buyers. Still, venture capitalists have been recouping good returns when start-up companies do sell.
And finally...
- Building a better mousetrap [occasional naughty language in the comments]
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 22 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.
Previously in IT Blogwatch:
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