It was an interesting year for the world’s largest networking vendor. Cisco Systems Inc. put up record revenue and earnings despite a highly volatile macro environment affected by wars, social issues, inflation, rising interest rates and the like. The company also made the biggest acquisition in its history in September when it announced the purchase of Splunk.

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Looking ahead to Cisco Systems’ prospects in 2024

Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. reported good news/bad news numbers in its fiscal first-quarter 2024 results this week, handily beating expectations but lowering its outlook. Revenue and earnings for the quarter were $14.67 billion and $1.11 per share, respectively, compared wth Street expectations of $14.61 billion and $1.03 per share. However, Cisco’s outlook was lower than expected.

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Behind the numbers: five questions from Cisco’s recent quarter

Extreme Networks Tuesday introduced a cloud-based universal zero-trust network access or ZTNA solution that will provide remote access, network access control, ZTNA and mobile device management integration in one software-as-a-service offering.

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Extreme Networks supports return to office with universal ZTNA for simpler, more secure network access

Veeam Software Inc. Wednesday announced a couple of new offerings in the backup-as-a-service market: Cirrus by Veeam for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure.

I had a chance to get a pre-briefing with Veeam Chief Technology Officer Danny Allan and asked him what was behind this move. He said it’s primarily about giving customers the flexibility to choose how they want to use Veeam to protect their business whether it’s in the cloud, on-premises or a combination of both.

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Veeam gets into the backup-as-a-service game for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure

If data is king of this artificial intelligence-driven world, Cisco Systems Inc. is making a play for the throne with its acquisition of Splunk Inc., long-rumored and finally announced this morning.

Cisco has been expanding from its hardware roots over the past few years, and this all-cash $28 billion acquisition will push it even further on its journey to building its business around recurring revenue.

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AI and security headline Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk, but other synergies exist