Metaswitch Networks (formerly Data Connection Ltd) is a private UK-based telecommunications software company. It was acquired by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

in July 2020 and subsequently by Alianza on March 4, 2025. Metaswitch Networks designs, develops, manufactures, and markets

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

software to communication service providers, equipment manufacturers, and large enterprises.

Corporate history

Metaswitch (then Data Connection) was founded in 1981 by seven former

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

employees led by Ian Ferguson, who remained on the board of directors until the company's acquisition by Microsoft. The company's earliest business areas included IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and retail point of sale systems. In the 1990s, the company began developing network protocol software. In 2000, the company launched the Metaswitch brand, which provided

softswitch A softswitch (''software switch'') is a call-switching node in a telecommunications network, based not on the specialized switching hardware of the traditional telephone exchange, but implemented in software running on a general-purpose computing ...

es and network management systems designed to enable telephone service providers to migrate to

Voice over IP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

(VoIP) networks while still supporting legacy telephone technologies. By 2008, the Metaswitch division was responsible for 78% of the company's revenue. In April 2009, the company announced intentions to consolidate all of its products and business operations under the Metaswitch brand, with two business units: the Carrier Systems Division and Network Protocol Division. In October 2009, the company rebranded itself as Metaswitch Networks, to reflect the growing focus on the products and services that it sells to telephone service providers. In August 2011, the company formally changed its name from Data Connection Ltd to Metaswitch Networks Ltd. In July 2014, the company moved some of its software to

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

with the launch of Project Calico. Project Calico was subsequently spun out into an independent startup
Tigera, Inc.
with Andy Randall (formerly the general manager of Metaswitch’s Networking Business Unit) as CEO. In May 2020,

announced a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch Networks. On 15 July 2020, the acquisition was completed. In June 2024, Microsoft made major cuts to its Azure for Operators business, which then included most of Metaswitch. In December 2024, Alianza announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch from Microsoft. On 04 March 2025, the acquisition was completed.

Acquisitions

In March 2010, the firm acquired AppTrigger Inc, a provider of service broker software in Richardson, Texas. In April 2011, it acquired Colibria AS, a provider of

Rich Communication Suite Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a communication protocol standard for instant messaging, primarily for mobile phones, developed and defined by the GSM Association (GSMA). It aims to be a replacement of SMS and MMS on cellular networks with ...

(RCS) software in Oslo, Norway. In February 2017, Metaswitch acquired OpenCloud Ltd, a provider of an open mobile services platform.

Ownership and investors

In 1987, Metaswitch established the Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) to hold shares of the company on behalf of the employees, which enabled company-wide

profit sharing Profit sharing refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses which provide direct or indirect payments to employees, often depending on the company's profitability, employees' regular salaries, and bonuses. In publicly traded compa ...

. In January 2008

Francisco Partners Francisco Partners Management, L.P., doing business as Francisco Partners, is an American private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses. It was founded in August 1999 and based in ...

, a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm, and

Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. the firm had appro ...

, a

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

firm, invested an undisclosed sum in Metaswitch.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metaswitch Networking companies Networking software companies Telecommunications equipment vendors Companies based in the London Borough of Enfield British companies established in 1981 Telecommunications companies established in 1981 Software companies established in 1981 2020 mergers and acquisitions Microsoft acquisitions Microsoft subsidiaries British subsidiaries of foreign companies Software companies based in London