9/24/2007 -- Cisco Systems Inc. last week acquired Cognio Inc., a market leader in WLAN spectrum analysis and management tooling. The acquisition not only bolsters Cisco's already formidable WLAN portfolio but also helps Cisco lock up a longtime partner. The upshot, analysts say, is that the Cognio buy helps Cisco simultaneously shore up both its market position and its technology arsenal. Not a bad acquisition, however you choose to look at it.

Of course, the buy isn't entirely strings-free. As a best-of-breed player, Cognio is an OEM partner to a number of Cisco competitors. In this respect, it'll be interesting to see how Cisco handles the partnering aspect, analysts say.

"[I]f Cisco is able to overcome the potential partner concerns, the company will add a best-of-breed spectrum analyzer tool to complement the 'spectrum intelligence' tools already built into its WLAN products, as well as adding to the bottom line with a mature product that is already popular with many OEM partners," wrote Michael Brandenburg, an analyst for enterprise network systems with consultancy Current Analysis.

Cognio's flagship product is Spectrum Expert, a software spectrum analyzer that's designed to be run from a laptop in the field. It's especially helpful for diagnosing coverage and interference issues, according to Brandenburg. For example, he explained, by using Cognio's tools, a network admin can determine if a microwave in a break room is interfering with 802.11 traffic.

"As wireless networks become in-the-norm in enterprises, as well as voice-over-WLAN...becoming more popular, clearing the airwaves is becoming a significant component of WLAN implementation and management," he said.

In this respect, Brandenburg continued, Cognio fills a glaring hole in Cisco's wireless stack.

"Radio interference is not only a frustrating experience for end users, it is equally frustrating for IT staffs tasked with the resolving the issue. The Cognio product not only provides visibility to problems that will impact data and voice traffic, but also has the added benefit of pushing that data up to Cisco's Wireless Control System," he said.

Better still, Brandenburg pointed out, Cisco is a Cognio reseller, so the two companies have a built-in relationship of sorts.

"Not only are [Cisco's and Cognio's] technologies compatible, but Cisco has also been a premier reseller of Cognio's products, so its sales and field teams already have significant product knowledge," he said.

Cognio is a partner to a number of WLAN diagnostic vendors, including AirMagnet, Fluke Networks and WildPackets. Cisco's move will undoubtedly complicate things for these companies, Brandenburg conceded, but that's as it should be in the anything-goes marketplace of today.

"While this acquisition is certainly going to cause a stir among the enterprise WLAN vendors, unfortunately for them, there is not much in the way of alternatives available to unseat Cognio," he said. "Until a real competitor comes to market, the rest of the industry will have to take a grin and bear it approach to paying Cisco, although indirectly as it might be, for comprehensive spectrum analysis." --Stephen Swoyer