Cisco Takes Tidal Software, Challenges IBM

Updated from 9:42 a.m. EDT

Networking giant Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote) ramped up its data center strategy Thursday, announcing plans to acquire privately held Tidal Software in an attempt to bolster its application management story.

The $105 million deal, which is a combination of cash and retention incentives, is just the latest in Cisco's ongoing metamorphosis.

Tidal Software builds management software for applications such as SAP, Peoplesoft, Java, and Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) .Net. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm, which competes with BMC Software(BMC Quote), CA(CA Quote) and IBM's(IBM Quote) Tivoli, also touts its ability to schedule workloads such as databases and customer relationship management. ...