News

Cisco Acquires 'Self-Service' Hybrid Cloud Vendor newScale

• By Jeffrey Schwartz
• 03/29/2011

Cisco Systems today said it has agreed to acquire newScale Inc., a supplier of software that provides self-service provisioning of cloud-based services.

The companies did not disclose terms of the deal. Founded in 1999, newScale provides self-service, self-catalog and lifecycle management software, particularly for IT pros deploying private and hybrid computing resources.

According to newScale, its service -- which it describes as a storefront or portal for both desktop and datacenter services -- has 2 million users. It provides a Web-based catalog of service options with dynamic self-service provisioning and lifecycle management for controlled access to resources, according to a company description.

"Cloud computing represents a major shift in the evolution of the Internet, and as more customers migrate from traditional IT infrastructures, the need for rapid self-provisioning and efficient management becomes increasingly critical," said Parvesh Sethi, senior vice president of Cisco Services, in a statement. 

"With the acquisition of newScale, Cisco will be able to accelerate the deployment of cloud services through a service catalog and self-service portal that allows customers to easily manage their IT infrastructures," Sethi said.

The acquisition of newScale fits in Cisco's plan to provide cloud management and automation solutions. According to a Cisco FAQ, the impact to existing customers will be minimal: "newScale's customers will continue to receive the same level of support, services and technology that they are accustomed to receiving."