M&A  January 12, 2022

Zayo buys QOS to take it to the edge in computing networks

BOULDER — Zayo Group Holdings Inc., a global provider of fiber-based communications solutions, has acquired QOS Networks, a provider of software-defined wide area networks and edge-managed services. 

Zayo said in a press statement that the purchase “positions Zayo as a premier provider of secure edge networking services, helping enterprise customers deploy, manage, and monitor their mission-critical SD-WAN and edge network environments.”

“Edge networks are seeing prolonged, strong growth, driven by users requiring applications to be delivered efficiently and ubiquitously across the enterprise from the edge. Solutions are shifting away from traditional private data center environments to edge and multi-cloud connectivity that enhance user productivity, reduce costs and improve the holistic customer experience,” the press statement said. “Zayo’s extensive fiber network, coupled with its optical and packet capabilities, is uniquely positioned to power the growth of the network edge and the rapid adoption of 5G and private wireless. These technologies are the critical foundation for distributed, multi-cloud capabilities. 

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“Together, Zayo and QOS will create significant opportunities to leverage relationships with cloud hyperscalers investing in the edge, multi-tenant data centers investing in the core and carriers investing in fiber-to-the-tower. The combination of Zayo and QOS provides enterprise CIOs high quality network services with global reach, real-time control and visibility, and consistent security at every network endpoint.”

Brian Lillie, chief product and technology officer at Zayo, said the acquisition positions the company to perform on multiple fronts. “This acquisition represents our commitment to, and investment in, our edge-to-core, edge-to-cloud and edge-to-edge network services portfolio,” he said. “We are extremely well-positioned to be a leading provider of networking for the evolving edge at all layers — fiber, optical and packet — and for all players — enterprises, hyperscalers and carriers. This requires secure, software-defined intelligent network control, management and monitoring capabilities that our customers need in a highly dispersed, multi-cloud world.”

QOS Networks was founded in 2012. It provides SD-WAN hardware and software solutions, including VMWare’s VeloCloud solution, Versa and Palo Alto’s Prisma. As a division of Zayo, the QOS brand will be retained, the company said in a statement.

“Joining forces with Zayo will bring our leading SD-WAN solutions into its already robust portfolio of communications infrastructure solutions,” said Frank Cittadino, CEO of QOS. “Combining our end-to-end enterprise SD-WAN solutions and whiteglove services with Zayo’s best-in-class fiber and network expertise will allow us to unlock unique value for our customers in the software-defined layer.”

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