How Cisco benefits from Splunk Acquisition

Networking Giant Cisco’s $28 billion acquisition of data analytics and security company Splunk is one of the biggest deals in the IT sector this year, with significant implications for both companies and their customers.

Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk will enable the former to unlock greater digital resilience for customers by creating an end-to-end platform equipped with threat prediction and prevention capabilities. The acquisition is part of Cisco’s long-term plan for investment and capital allocation in the cybersecurity market, which is anticipated to grow rapidly as per quadrant knowledge solutions.

Through this acquisition, Cisco plans to address the cybersecurity challenges head-on to drive the next generation of AI-enabled security and observability. A key challenge is organized cybercrime. Organizations are incurring significant costs, human as well as monetary, to prevent various types of attacks, including breaches and incidents that are classified under web applications, Denial of Service, card skimming, lost and stolen assets, miscellaneous errors, system intrusion, and point of sale and privilege misuse.

According to Quadrant Knowledge Solutions , the annual cost of cybercrime at the global level is expected to rise to trillions of dollars by 2025 . The costs include theft of personal and financial data, fraud, post-attack disruption to the normal course of business, intellectual property theft, damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost productivity, embezzlement, forensic investigations, restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm.

Traditional threat intelligence tools are centered around cyber attribution which focuses on identifying the individual or group behind the cybercrime attack. However, with the rise of increased internet traffic, the need to prevent and predict future attacks before they happen helps organizations serve their customers better by analyzing information from multiple sources, identify and prevent attacks on mission-critical business activities.

Through the combined capabilities of its existing security portfolio and Splunk’s AI and observability capabilities, Cisco intends to strengthen its software business to mitigate cybercrime costs and continues to build on the reputation of being a purpose-driven company.

Cisco And Splunks Acquisition: What It Means for The IT Industry:

Splunk’s acquisition will enable Cisco to enhance its portfolio of products and services with Splunks data analytics and security capabilities. The acquisition will also allow Cisco to expand its reach and revenue by leveraging Splunks customer base and partner ecosystem. Cisco expects the deal to close in the first half of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

According to Divya Baranwal, Vice President (Research) at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, “The acquisition of Splunk by Cisco is a strategic move that will create a powerful combination of networking, data, and security solutions for the IT industry. The deal will benefit both companies and their customers by offering more value, innovation, and differentiation. The deal will also create new opportunities for growth and collaboration for both companies and their partners.”

Author : Divya Baranwal Vice President at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions