Nokia plans to acquire Nakina Systems to strengthen security portfolio

After acquiring Alcatel in what may be one of the most aptly timed acquisition, Nokia has revealed plans to acquire one more company. Nokia is planning to acquire Canadian firm Nakina systems in a bid to strengthen its security portfolio. This acquisition may help Nokia in preparing for its 5G push that it has pioneered as a leader.

Press Release

• The planned acquisition helps Nokia support customers facing increasing threats coming from 5G networks, Internet of Things , Big Data, Software Defined Networks and Cloud services
• Nokia also intends to use the planned acquisition to help customers meet growing regulatory and legal requirements for network security
• Nakina Systems is a Canadian software company specializing in security and orchestration software for virtual and hybrid networks
• Planned acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2016

Espoo, Finland – Nokia plans to acquire Canadian software firm Nakina Systems (“Nakina”), to reinforce its  position in security at a time when customers are bolstering their defenses to cope with the increasing demands of hyper connectivity, new regulations and emerging technologies. The companies previously had a five-year partnership where Nokia used Nakina’s software in several customer projects.

 Security is an integral part of any network solution. Nakina would provide Nokia with unique vendor- and technology-agnostic capabilities that allow operators to administer, control and audit security while simplifying the way insiders access critical network assets. With the planned acquisition, Nokia also strengthens its ability to manage privileged identities and isolate network security vulnerabilities.

These capabilities are important for operators wanting to protect their networks and avert service interruptions that could damage or degrade customer experience, cause revenue loss and/or lead to service level agreement penalties. Nakina’s main customers operate some of the world’s most demanding networks and include some of the world’s largest global service providers.

Bhaskar Gorti, President of Applications and Analytics at Nokia, said: “The planned acquisition of Nakina is another example of the steps we are taking to build security and privacy into our networks from the beginning. As seventy percent of all security breaches originate from privileged insiders, Nakina gives us the ability to address a rapidly increasing threat for our customers.”

Mary O’Neil, CEO of Nakina Systems, said: “Nakina bridges the security and operational gaps between the promise of cloud networks and operational realities of running high performance heterogeneous networks. With this deal, our customers will benefit from  Nokia’s scale, leading expertise and investment scope for software and applications.”