Acme Packet

Acme Packet was an American telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. It developed and sold infrastructure for managing real-time communications over Internet Protocol networks, serving telecommunications carriers, enterprises, and communications service providers. Its principal products included session border controllers, multi-service security gateways, and session routing proxies. The company operated in a period when voice, video, unified communications, and other traditionally specialized telecommunications services were increasingly being delivered over IP networks. This transition created a need for equipment that could connect distinct communications domains while maintaining security, interoperability, quality of service, and control over signaling and media traffic. Acme Packet’s products addressed these requirements by sitting at network boundaries, where they could mediate sessions between carriers, enterprise systems, hosted services, and other IP communications environments. The company’s best-known product family was Net-Net, a line associated with session-aware networking and session border control. The portfolio was aimed at both service-provider and enterprise deployments and supported functions such as protocol interworking, network address translation, traffic policy enforcement, security, session routing, and control of real-time communications flows. Acme Packet’s products were relevant to IP voice and unified communications architectures rather than to consumer electronics or general-purpose networking. Acme Packet was incorporated in Delaware and became a publicly traded company before its acquisition. Reference material described the company as employing more than 761 people across 31 countries, indicating an international operating footprint despite its U.S. headquarters. In 2002, its Net-Net family received a SUPERQuest award at SUPERCOMM for promising IP and application-services technology for public networks, an early indication of its positioning in the emerging carrier IP infrastructure market. On February 4, 2013, Oracle announced an agreement to acquire Acme Packet for approximately $2.1 billion. The transaction closed in June 2013, after which Acme Packet was folded into Oracle’s Communications Global Business Unit. The acquisition expanded Oracle’s communications technology portfolio with session control, security, routing, and network-interworking capabilities. Acme Packet consequently ceased operating as an independent company; its technology and product capabilities became part of Oracle’s communications offerings.

Acme Packet was established in 2000 in the United States and built its business around infrastructure for IP-based real-time communications. The company’s products were designed for the boundary points between communications networks, where carriers, enterprises, and service providers needed to connect systems using different signaling, media, security, and policy configurations. Its core technology area was the session border controller. SBCs manage and protect real-time communications sessions as they cross network boundaries. Depending on the deployment, they can provide protocol and media interworking, session routing, topology hiding, access control, denial-of-service protection, network address translation, quality-of-service policy, and interoperability between carrier and enterprise communications systems. Acme Packet also marketed multi-service security gateways and session routing proxies, extending its portfolio beyond a single appliance category. The Net-Net family became the company’s principal product identity. It was associated with session-aware networking for service-provider and enterprise environments and was used to address the operational challenges created by the movement of voice, video, and unified communications services onto IP networks. Rather than competing as a broad consumer or general-purpose networking brand, Acme Packet concentrated on specialized communications infrastructure with carrier-grade reliability and policy control. The company gained industry recognition early in its development. In 2002, the Net-Net family won a SUPERQuest award at SUPERCOMM for promising IP and application-services technology for public networks. Acme Packet subsequently developed an international business, with reference material reporting more than 761 employees in 31 countries. It was incorporated in Delaware and became a public company before being acquired. Oracle announced on February 4, 2013 that it intended to acquire Acme Packet for approximately $2.1 billion. The transaction was completed in June 2013. Oracle folded Acme Packet into its Communications Global Business Unit, bringing the company’s session-control, security, routing, and network-interworking technology into Oracle’s communications portfolio. Following that integration, Acme Packet no longer operated as a standalone company. The brand is therefore best understood historically as an acquired telecommunications technology business and product lineage within Oracle, rather than as an active independent brand.

• 2013

  Oracle announces acquisition

  [1]Acme Packeten.wikipedia.org

  Oracle announces an agreement to acquire Acme Packet for approximately $2.1 billion.

• 2013

  Acquisition closes and Acme Packet is integrated

  [1]Acme Packeten.wikipedia.org

  The transaction closes in June, and Acme Packet is folded into Oracle’s Communications Global Business Unit.

• 2002

  Net-Net receives SUPERQuest recognition

  [1]Acme Packeten.wikipedia.org

  The Net-Net family receives a SUPERQuest award at SUPERCOMM for promising IP and application-services technology for public networks.

• 2000

  Acme Packet is founded

  [1]Acme Packeten.wikipedia.org

  Acme Packet is established in the United States as a company focused on IP communications infrastructure.

A specialist provider of carrier-grade and enterprise IP communications infrastructure, positioned around session control, network interworking, security, and policy management for voice, video, and unified communications.

• Session-aware networking and session border controllers

  Net-Net

  Net-Net was Acme Packet’s principal product family for managing real-time IP communications across network boundaries. The portfolio was associated with session border control, including session routing, signaling and media interworking, security policy enforcement, network address translation, topology protection, and quality-of-service management. It was marketed for carrier, enterprise, and service-provider environments handling IP voice, video, and unified communications traffic. The family represented the central expression of Acme Packet’s specialist positioning in communications-network infrastructure.

• Telecommunications security gateways

  Multi-Service Security Gateways

  Acme Packet’s multi-service security gateways were designed to protect and control communications traffic as it moved between service-provider, carrier, and enterprise domains. Their role included securing signaling and media flows, enforcing communications policies, supporting interoperability, and helping operators manage the security and operational boundaries of IP-based voice and multimedia services.

• IP communications routing infrastructure

  Session Routing Proxies

  Session routing proxies formed part of Acme Packet’s infrastructure portfolio for directing and controlling real-time communications sessions. They supported the connection of different network domains and service environments, helping providers apply routing, policy, and interoperability controls to IP voice and other session-based communications without treating the product as a general-purpose data-network router.

• 2013

  Oracle agrees to acquire Acme PacketM&A

  Background

  Oracle sought to strengthen its communications portfolio with Acme Packet’s session border control, security, routing, and IP network-interworking technology.

  Action taken

  Oracle announced the acquisition on February 4, 2013, for approximately $2.1 billion, and completed the transaction in June 2013.

  Aftermath

  Acme Packet was folded into Oracle’s Communications Global Business Unit and ceased operating as an independent company.

  Announced acquisition value. $2.1 billion (2013 announcement)

  Source

1. 1Acme Packeten.wikipedia.org