While I'm not sure there is a great deal of synergy with Cisco's core business, the Five Across acquisition gives Cisco some street cred on the business side of Participatory Platforms. Will be interesting to see how they integrate it.
Cisco delivered the usual corporate patter in explaining the acquisition:
“Cisco believes the network is the platform for organizations to connect with their constituents and for individuals to connect with each other,” said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Media Solutions Group (CMSG). “With the acquisition of Five Across, Cisco is taking an important step towards helping its customers evolve their website experience into something more relevant and valuable to the end-user.”
I've always been impressed with what Five Across have been doing in creating communities for big brands. They have a platform that scales. Does this mean Cisco is getting into the Participatory Platforms business though? We'll have to wait and see.