Cisco Buys Into Wi-Fi Analytics With ThinkSmart

Cisco has acquired Irish location data analysis vendor ThinkSmart Technologies, as it looks to ride the good ship Big Data.

ThinkSmart’s kit provides analysis over Wi-Fi, so Cisco is trying to home in on businesses running across multiple locations with significant Wide area networks (WANs).

The terms of the deal were not announced. ThinkSmart, which was formed at the Incubation Centre of the University Colllege of Cork, will become part of Cisco’s Wireless Networking Group.

Thinking smart?

“With Cisco’s acquisition of ThinkSmart’s network and Wi-Fi location analytics capabilities announced today, the customer experience in public venues such as retail locations, hotels and airports, is about to get much better,” a blog post from Cisco read.

“ThinkSmart’s location analytics collects information on movement within a venue including time of day, traffic patterns and dwell times. This information helps enterprises and venue operators improve the customer experience by identifying appropriate staffing levels, reducing wait times, optimizing business processes, and improving customer flows.

“Cisco’s vision for mobility solutions will be accelerated by the acquisition of ThinkSmart enabling customers to analyze location data from wireless networks and provide insight that can be used to drive new commercial opportunities and enhance end-user experiences.”

Cisco hasn’t shied away from acquisitions of European firms. In August it closed the acquisition of British company NDS Group, which should help it bolster its videoconferencing portfolio.

Other US giants have been attracted by vendors on these shores. IBM announced the purchase of storage software provider Butterfly earlier this week.

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