Cisco Makes Big Bet on Data with $28 Billion Splunk Acquisition

Cisco is acquiring Splunk for $28 billion in its largest ever acquisition deal, reflecting a trend of tech giants acquiring for growth.

Splunk offers software for searching, monitoring, analyzing, and visualizing data in real-time across IT, security, and business use cases.

The deal will cause short-term uncertainty and churn in observability and cybersecurity markets, opening doors for competitors like Dynatrace.

The acquisition strengthens Cisco's security portfolio but raises concerns among Splunk users about effects on innovation.

While disruptive short-term, the deal supports Cisco's business transformation towards software/subscriptions.