Network Testers Unite: Ixia Buys VeriWave
Financial terms of the deal, which was announced late Monday, were not disclosed. By acquiring VeriWave, Ixia, which is based in Calabasas, Calif., adds to its wireless performance testing capabilities and also buys a vendor with an expanding footprint among WLAN-focused solution providers.
Atul Bhatnagar, Ixia's president and CEO, noted that the explosion of mobile devices is placing unprecedented demands on networks, whose customers have higher access needs and QoE expectations than previously.
"Equipment manufacturers, enterprises and carriers alike are looking for a full set of end-to-end solutions that completely test converged Wi-Fi, wired and 3G/4G ecosystems -- especially for video-savvy applications," Bhatnagar said in a statement. “By integrating VeriWave’s portfolio of innovative Wi-Fi testing solutions, Ixia will help ensure that carriers, multi-system operators (MSO), enterprises, and network equipment manufacturers are able to fully support media-rich applications running on all types of wireless smart devices.”
VeriWave sells its products to manufacturers, but last fall launched a formal channel program, offering two of its software offerings, WaveDeploy and WaveInsite, through enterprise-focused VARs. The company's testing products evaluate client devices and applications based on their performance, interoperability and interaction with wireless access points (AP), instead of mapping WLAN performance by AP signal.
The companies didn't offer any additional details on how they will integrate, but Chris DeMonico, VeriWave's CEO, called the acquisition "exciting" for VeriWave and Ixia customers, partners and employees.
"VeriWave's wireless testing solution is a fantastic fit for Ixia's end-to-end IP and LTE offerings," DeMonico said in a statement. "Ixia's deep breadth of testing options provides existing VeriWave customers with an extensive portfolio to use for continued product development and service deployment."
The acquisition is expected to close by July 18.
Ixia was founded in 1998, but in recent years has sought expansion via acquisition. Its history is in IP/Ethernet testing, and in June 2009, it entered the wireless network testing market by acquiring Catapult Communications for about $105 million. Later that year, it bought the N2X Data Networks product line from Agilent Technologies for $44 million.