Cisco to acquire Slido, IMImobile to bolster Webex offerings

San Jose, California based networking giant Cisco on Monday announced its intent to acquire audience interaction platform Slido and cloud communications software provider IMImobile, according to two separate blog posts on the company’s website.

While Bratislava, Slovakia based Slido provides a platform for user engagement for before, after and during meetings and online events, London based IMImobile is expected to help Cisco create a better customer experience as a service (CXaaS) offering and an end-to-end customer interaction management solution.

Slido’s technology will now become a part of the Cisco Webex platform and increase the company’s ability to provide inclusive audience engagement across in-person and virtual experiences.

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Founded in 2012, Slido has over 7 million monthly participants and also offers features for polls, Q&A, quizzes, word clouds and surveys.

“At Cisco, our goal is to deliver Webex experiences that are 10X better than in-person interactions and an important part of that is making these experiences inclusive and equal for all,” Abhay Kulkarni, VP/GM, Webex Meetings, Cisco Team Collaboration Group, wrote in a blog post.

According to the October 2020 global workforce survey by Cisco, 98% of respondents expected future work meetings to include remote participants. Companies are also thinking how to maintain bonds, foster culture and make virtual experiences better than in-person interactions, Kulkarni wrote in his blog post.

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While Cisco hasn’t revealed how much it is paying for Slido, the IMImobile deal is valued at $730 million, according to a press release by the company. The Slido acquisition is scheduled to close during the second quarter of Cisco’s FY21, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. IMImobile acquisition is subject to IMImobile shareholder approval and satisfaction of required regulatory conditions.

IMImobile would be combined with the Webex Contact Center for a robust CXaaS offering.  

“IMImobile’s omnichannel capabilities make it easy for any organization to message on any channel including WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat and Google RCS,” Omar Tawakol, vice president and general manager Cisco Contact Center Business Unit, wrote in a separate blog post.

The company would also provide Cisco with the ability to alter workflows with low code orchestration capabilities. Additionally, these workflows would be made programmable with enterprise communication platform as a service (CPaaS) APIs that meet the needs of enterprise developers, Tawakol said in his blogpost.