Cisco Systems is buying private video surveillance software maker BroadWare for an undisclosed amount, the company said today.
The purchase is the latest of the San Jose networking equipment company’s bold recent moves in the security market. In January, Cisco said it would spend $830 million to buy San Bruno e-mail security start-up IronPort.
BroadWare’s software helps business manage the huge amounts of digital video produced when companies use cameras to record what’s happening in office parks or other corporate locations. Its products allow video to be synchronized with other security systems, as well as business software.
Cisco’s acquisition of BroadWare also highlights a growing trend in the security industry: the convergence of traditional physical security with information technology security.
“Cisco views the video surveillance infrastructure market as an immediate high-growth opportunity that requires the ability to support both (digital) and analog device installations,” Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Emerging Market Technologies Group, said in a statement.
Founded in 1995, BroadWare has 38 employees, based in offices in Santa Clara and McLean, Va. Cisco expects the acqusition to close at the end of its fourth quarter, which ends July 27.
Contact Ryan Blitstein at rblitstein@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5715.
