Networking industry vet Network Instruments is adding decided heft to JDSU, who is shelling out $200 million for the company. JDSU doesn’t just get a product line, but a loyal customer base, much of which have dealt with Network Instruments for close to two decades.

In fact, Network Instruments was co-founded in 1994 by a former rocket scientist. And the company, till now, has been a stranger to acquisition, preferring to build products rather than buy them. JDSU, meanwhile, has a broad base of networking devices, goods and services, and is perhaps best known for its optical networking gear. The company also has multiplexers and test instrumentation for cable, wireless, fiber and DSL. It is the latter where Network Instruments and its probes perhaps fits best.

Network Instrument’s flagship tool is Observer, which handles application performance management, as well as trending and stream reconstruction. The tool is often teamed with the company’s GigaStor. “Capable of storing up to 5 PB of network data for days, weeks, months or in some cases years, GigaStor allows administrators to rewind, analyze and troubleshoot network issues at the packet level – before, during and after they occur,” the company said.

In fact, the company released Observer in 1994, the year of its founding. Observer has stuck true to its guns, even while the distributed architecture network analyzer gained features, especially in the areas of multi-user and multi-topology monitoring.

The JDSU Story

JDSU, which some may remember as UniPhase, believes this acquisition makes it a stronger competitor, an important item in a market largely dominate by Cisco and Juniper.

“The acquisition of Network Instruments further strengthens JDSU as a key solutions provider to the enterprise, data center and cloud networking markets. It expands the addressable market for JDSU's Network and Service Enablement business segment by more than $1 billion in markets growing at nearly 13 percent, including the application-aware network performance management and network packet broker markets,” the company said.

JDSU is also excited to pick up the Network Instruments’ talent, including R&D and production teams. The $40 million a year Network Instruments has some 125 employees. JDSU sees a high level of complement with the Network Instrument line.

“The acquisition of Network Instruments by JDSU will provide our customers with considerable benefits,” said Douglas Smith, president, CEO and co-founder of Network Instruments. “JDSU's commitment to product innovation and its leadership position with service providers will provide Network Instruments with a strong entry into the carrier market for performance management solutions. In turn, our robust product line and strong relationships with our enterprise channel partners will benefit JDSU as we bring our products under the JDSU brand.”

TMC Honors JDSU

TMC’s Internet Telephony magazine recently honored JDSU by choosing its PacketPortal as “Communications Solution Product of the Year.”