3. Cisco Buys Sourcefire
Few areas are more important for IT managers these days than network security. And that’s an area where networking technology maker Cisco has been in a dogfight with rival Palo Alto Networks.
This year Cisco sought to gain an advantage when it announced in July a deal to buy Sourcefire, a developer of next-generation intrusion detection and intrusion protection systems, firewall software, and advanced malware protection technologies, for a whopping $2.7 billion. The acquisition was wrapped up Oct. 7.
Cisco said the acquisition of Columbia, Md.-based Sourcefire would provide Cisco with "deep security DNA," a skill set that’s become increasingly important given the complexities that mobile computing, cloud computing and the Internet of Everything have introduced into the IT security landscape.