Cisco to buy BroadWare Technologies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O) said it would buy privately held BroadWare Technologies to expand its video surveillance equipment business.

In a statement late on Monday, the company did not disclose the terms of the deal, which it expects to close in its fiscal fourth quarter that ends on July 27.

Cisco's traditional focus has been on routers and switches, which direct Internet traffic, but the company has been expanding into video equipment and software in a bid to sell a broader range of products to businesses and consumers.

The network equipment maker already sells video surveillance products, including video encoders, which enable users to connect their analog surveillance equipment to a digital, Internet Protocol network.

BroadWare's software enables Web-based monitoring, management, recording and storage of audio and video that can be accessed anywhere by authorized users, Cisco said.

"Cisco views the video surveillance infrastructure market as an immediate high-growth opportunity that requires the ability to support IP and analog device installations," said Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of the company's emerging market technologies group.

BroadWare was founded in 1995 and has 38 employees, with offices in California and Virginia, Cisco said.