* Reactivity acquisition strengthens Cisco’s Application Oriented Networking lineup
There’s one less independent maker of XML processing gear now that Cisco is forking over $135 million for Reactivity.
Privately-held Reactivity’s XML appliances let companies offload from servers certain routing, acceleration and security tasks related to XML and Web services traffic.
As enterprises become more aggressive about building service-oriented architecture (SOA) environments, their use of bandwidth-intensive XML and SOAP-based Web services is increasing. To speed up the processing of SOA application traffic — and reduce network bottlenecks — companies are taking advantage of dedicated devices that can handle content-based routing, message transformations and protocol translations, for example.
Research firm Gartner predicts 40% of Global 2000 organizations will use XML appliances as part of their SOA network implementations by 2009. Meanwhile, growing enterprise interest in XML optimization technology has driven a few acquisitions of device makers. IBM picked up DataPower in 2005, soon after Intel acquired Sarvega. Now Cisco is buying Reactivity.
Under Cisco ownership, the Reactivity appliances could help round out Cisco’s efforts to make network devices more aware of the application traffic being handled and better able to provide different degrees of security and priority.
Cisco offers its own XML inspection products as part of its Application Oriented Networking (AON) initiative to deliver application-fluent network devices. But so far Cisco’s foray into application-level processing hasn’t gained a lot of traction with customers, according to Ron Schmelzer, a senior analyst with research firm ZapThink.
Schmelzer told my colleague, Phil Hochmuth, the Reactivity deal might lift the profile of Cisco’s XML-based AON technology: “It’s possible that this acquisition can give Cisco the kick in the pants it needs to effectively take advantage of a growing opportunity for management of XML and Web services traffic,” he said.
Cisco expects to close the Reactivity deal, which was announced last week, by the end of April. Remaining independent XML appliance makers include Forum Systems and Layer 7 Technologies.
