Metaswitch Networks is a private UK-based company which was acquired by Microsoft in July 2020. Metaswitch Networks designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

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

Corporate history

Metaswitch (formerly Data Connection Ltd) was founded in 1981 by seven former IBM 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) Systems Network Architecture (SNA) is IBM's proprietary networking architecture, created in 1974. It is a complete protocol stack for interconnecting computers and their resources. SNA describes formats and protocols but, in itself, is not a pi ...

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

Voice over IP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Interne ...

(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 with the launch of Project Calico. In May 2020,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

announced a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch Networks. On 15 July 2020, 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 (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 is various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses. In publicly traded companies th ...

. In January 2008

Francisco Partners Francisco Partners is an American private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses. Founded in August 1999 and based in San Francisco with offices in London and New York City, Franci ...

, a private equity firm, and Sequoia Capital, a

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

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