Microsoft acquisition of Metaswitch aimed at carrier UCaaS

Microsoft options to obtain Metaswitch Networks and give its organization interaction services to carriers through Microsoft Azure. The announcement arrived less than a thirty day period soon after Microsoft finished the order of Affirmed Networks, which formulated virtualized community application that Microsoft will use as the infrastructure for Metaswitch solutions.

Microsoft declared the Metaswitch deal this 7 days. The business did not offer financial specifics or disclose when it anticipated to total the transaction.

Metaswitch presents what the sector phone calls unified communications as a provider. In common, UCaaS companies will run their application in their details facilities or 3rd parties’, like cloud companies AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.

Metaswitch presents telephony and crew collaboration, and audio, movie and world-wide-web conferencing utilised by enterprises and contact facilities. Its rivals include Netrio, Cisco and FreeSwitch.

The Microsoft acquisition of Affirmed Networks — finished on April 23 — gave the cloud provider an Developed Packet Main. An EPC is a vital technological innovation for cloud companies that want to give their details facilities as a system for carriers’ services, this sort of as UCaaS.

An EPC is necessary because it can be a framework for giving converged voice and details on carriers’ 4G Lengthy-Phrase Evolution networks. In the potential, EPC will grow to be the underpinning for 5G networks.

Microsoft is not the only cloud provider growing its platform’s capabilities for carriers. AWS and Google are also on the exact route.

Microsoft and the other cloud companies need to have to get the job done with carriers because the latter is the principal channel for organization interaction potential buyers. “MetaSwitch has hundreds of provider companions that are now probable channels for Microsoft,” mentioned Irwin Lazar, an analyst at Nemertes Analysis.

Metaswitch has hundreds of provider companions that are now probable channels for Microsoft.
Irwin LazarAnalyst, Nemertes Analysis

Microsoft could get its Teams collaboration application into that channel by melding it with Metaswitch, Lazar mentioned. Cisco is executing a very similar technique by rolling its Teams competitor, Webex, into the Broadsoft UCaaS products. Cisco acquired Broadsoft in 2018.

Metaswitch would also plug a gap in Microsoft’s organization communications portfolio. Once the Microsoft acquisition is total, it will have Metaswitch’s interaction system for contact facilities.

On the other hand, Metaswitch’s contact center portfolio could area Microsoft in levels of competition with companions AudioCodes, Oracle and Ribbon Communications.

“I suppose Microsoft will not do anything to jeopardize lover associations,” Lazar mentioned. “But it will have to invest some time guaranteeing that it does not search for to take organization away from its companions.”