- Cloud networking leader Arista Networks recently announced it has acquired Big Switch Networks. These are the details about the deal.
Cloud networking leader Arista Networks recently announced it has acquired Big Switch Networks, which is a network monitoring and SDN (Software Defined Networking) pioneer. Arista Networks is known for providing a complete cloud networking suite with rich capabilities in all critical areas of the campus, data center, and public cloud. And the acquisition of Big Switch will further strengthen the company’s network monitoring and observability suite delivered through Arista’s software platform CloudVision and DANZ (Data ANalyZer) capabilities.
“For nearly six years, Big Switch Networks and Dell EMC Networking have collaborated in support of Open Networking and the flexibility and choice it offers customers,” said Tom Burns, SVP & GM Dell EMC Networking & Solutions. “We look forward to continuing to offer advanced cloud and monitoring fabric capabilities to customers in partnership with Big Switch, now part of Arista Networks.”
Big Switch Networks has been recognized as a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Networking for the third time. And Big Switch won the best of VMworld for Networking in 2019. Going forward, Arista and Dell will continue to partner to deliver cloud fabric and observability capabilities.
“We welcome Big Switch to the Arista family. The addition of Big Switch products enriches our analytics and visibility, helping customers monitor their cloud area networks,” added Anshul Sadana, Chief Operating Officer at Arista Networks.
Arista Networks president & CEO Jayshree Ullal also pointed out that Arista made 3 merger & acquisition transactions that helped chart the company’s strategic direction. Along with Big Switch Networks, the other deals included Mojo Networks and Metamoko. With Mojo Networks, Arista’s decision to deliver a campus portfolio became more realistic due to its culture, superior engineering technology, and wireless expertise. And with Metamako, the talented and energized team was redefining low latency with cut-through capabilities of 5ns using the latest matrix-switching and FPGAs rather than traditional switching methods.
And Ullal pointed out that Arista did not buy Big Switch Networks for big switching. However, Arista appreciated its focus on software complementing Arista’s inline DANZ (Data AnalyZer) switching and Arista CloudEOS. Plus Ullal also cited Big Switch’s engineering prowess in multi-cloud monitoring and control as an SDN pioneer over the last decade as a reason for the acquisition.
“We are thrilled to join forces with Arista to help customers dramatically simplify their journey to the cloud,” said Douglas Murray, CEO at Big Switch Networks.
