Cisco talks Jabber into acquisition

By Shaun Nichols on Sep 22, 2008 9:13 AM
Filed under Networking

Cisco has agreed to purchase open-source instant messaging firm Jabber, and plans to use the Jabber messaging software within its WebEx Connect and Unified Communications packages.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Jabber specializes in enterprise messaging software. The company's messaging offering supports such products as AOL AIM, Microsoft Office Communications Server, IBM Sametime and instant messaging software from Google and Yahoo.

Upon completing the transaction, Jabber will continue to function in its current offices as a member of Cisco's collaboration software group.

The company hopes that the adaptability of Jabber will increase the appeal of its collaboration suite.

"With the acquisition of Jabber, we will be able to extend the reach of our current instant messaging service and expand the capabilities of our collaboration platform," said Doug Dennerlune, senior vice president of Cisco's collaboration software group.

"Our intention is to be the interoperability benchmark in the collaboration space."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company hopes to complete the transaction by the end of its second fiscal quarter in January.