Cisco Systems is seeking a buyer for its video-software unit NDS, according to people familiar with the process, reports Bloomberg.
NDS is a video software and content delivery platform for service providers, which Cisco acquired NDS for $5 billion in 2012. The company integrated NDS into its Videoscape suites and offers.
Videoscape “empowers service providers and media companies to create and connect new synchronised, personalised, and intuitive experiences across multiple screens-at the speed of now,” according to Cisco.
CEO Chuck Robbins is trying to keep Cisco competitive as the networking business shifts away from the expensive, fixed-purpose machines and locked-down software that once dominated the industry.
Shedding NDS would speed Cisco’s exit from technology used in traditional TV services following the company’s sale of its connected-device business, the former Scientific-Atlanta, in 2015.
Broadband TV Views. The report comes as no surprise, as the traditional TV business is under siege. On the one hand from OTT services such as Netflix and Amazon, and from live streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu, T-Mobile’s Knppr and many others.
On the other hand, the traditional business of selling hardware by locking in customers with proprietary solutions is giving way to more flexible software-based solutions using (semi-)open standards.
