Communication

Oracle Acquires Communication Services Software Specialist GoAhead

The acquisition extends Oracle's communications industry portfolio with service availability and management software.

Business software and hardware systems company Oracle announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire GoAhead Software, a specialist in the development and delivery of packaged service availability software for the communications industry.

In a joint statement, the companies said the combination is expected to benefit network equipment providers (NEPs) like Ericsson, Motorola and Alcatel Lucent by providing a more comprehensive and integrated offering that delivers service availability across telecom solutions.

GoAhead, a privately held company based in Bellevue, Wash., provides carrier-grade software that is designed to speed the time to market and reduce the cost and risk of carrier-grade services that need to be always available. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of 2011, and until the deal closes, each company will continue to operate independently, an Oracle release stated.

“NEPs are moving to a standardized software and hardware platform that can deliver and manage highly available services,” said Nigel Ball, vice president of Oracle Communications Industry Solutions. “GoAhead software is the leading commercially available solution that is compliant with Service Availability Forum specifications, the most widely adopted standard for service availability software. The addition of GoAhead technology will help us deliver a comprehensive, standards-based, carrier-grade platform that supports the delivery of new services in the call path of the network.”

The acquisition extends Oracle’s communications industry portfolio with service availability and management software, and the combination is expected to help NEPs focus on high-value services by leveraging technology from a single hardware and software provider, while simplifying infrastructure deployment and maintenance of services.

Starting with one CDMA wireless network element, Motorola now leverages GoAhead to ensure uninterrupted service of more than 10 different network elements across its wireless portfolio. “From project to project, this common COTS application-ready platform works deterministically out of the gate. This significantly increases our success in new projects,” the company said in a release.

“With over 100,000 deployments of GoAhead software by leading NEPs, GoAhead brings significant domain knowledge and engineering strength, coupled with a strong track record of delivering solutions to global network equipment providers,” said Asif Naseem, president and chief operating officer of GoAhead Software.

GoAhead employees are expected to join Oracle, bringing “significant” domain knowledge and engineering strength. An Oracle FAQ posted on the company’s Website also noted GoAhead has strong relationships with the Service Availability Forum and OpenSAF communities, organizations dedicated to the development and adoption of service availability software for the communications industry.