Cisco Buys Into Social Networking

February 13th, 2007: Cisco will soon be making a foray into the world of social networking, announcing that it has agreed to purchase Five Across Inc. However, instead of going head to head with sites such as MySpace.com, the company will be bringing the technology into the enterprise arena.

Five Across is a social networking software company based in San Francisco that has developed ‘Connect Community Builder’, software that helps enterprises build customer connectivity options into their presence on the internet.

Social networking is becoming big business, so it’s no wonder Cisco is going for a slice of the pie. And with features such friend lists, discussions, blogs, comments and more multi-media orientated services such as video posting and podcasts, Five Across’ software will no doubt help it diversify its services.

Speaking with ITworldcanada.com, IDC consumer analyst Danielle Levitas says traditional media providers are ready for social networking. "There's quite a bit of need for experimentation from media companies to show their stockholders they can take advantage of the Web and they're not going to cede it to new media companies," said Levitas.

Cisco’s move into social networking certainly shows how important closer customer relations are to modern businesses, not to mention the more community-orientated emphasis on support that is growing out of the open source movement.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, it is expected to close before the end of Cisco’s third fiscal quarter on April 28.

Comment on this story