Cisco's NetSolve Acquisition: Managed Services and the Channel

This IDC study discusses Cisco Systems' announcement that it will spend approximately $128 million to acquire NetSolve, a managed services provider based in Austin, Texas. This move will be watched closely by the networking vendor's base of indirect sales partners, some of which may find themselves in competition with Cisco as a result of the move.

"Managed services have gotten a great deal of attention from networking vendors as well as the channel partners with whom those vendors work," said Ken Presti, research director of IDC's Network Channels and Alliances service. "Neither side of the equation wants to lose access to the very substantial revenues at stake ? and that condition raises the need for skilled partnercraft in ways rarely seen previously."