[VoiceOps] Alianza Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Metaswitch from Microsoft

[Jeff Brower]

Hi Ryan,

According to [1] "the deal covers Metaswitch's [IP including 400+  
patents] as well as ... 300 staffers", and this number effectively  
doubles Alianza's headcount.

I think you may slightly be underestimating the "original Metaswitch  
dna". That was developed over a 20+ year time-span at great pain and  
effort; some I saw firsthand. Assuming this still has some value, they  
will need serious resources and effort to maintain the existing sw/hw  
and incorporate new 5G and AI functionality.

One thing Alianza gets that should not be underestimated is knowledge  
of how Azure actually works down to the lowest level. I've seen telcos  
struggle mightily with failover, reliability, and TCO when attempting  
cloud migration. If Alianza can crack that code it would be valuable.

-Jeff

[1]  
https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/exclusive-alianza-buys-metaswitch-microsoft-deal-years-making

Quoting Ryan Delgrosso <ryandelgrosso at gmail.com>:

> I'm not convinced that's the salient question since it would seem  
> this is just an exercise in buying cloud revenue and little if any  
> of the original Metaswitch dna have or will survive.
>
> To be fair that dna in 2024 terms is of dubious value anyway.
>
> My bet is they will probably bring in some talent (think just barely  
> enough) to try and collect the long-tail of revenue on existing  
> installed base meanwhile pushing stick/carrot to move into their own  
> cloud platforms.
>
> On 12/11/2024 10:48 AM, Jeff Brower wrote:
>>
>> Ryan if this is accurate, I wonder how many ex-Metaswitchers will  
>> end up at Alianza. Or maybe some already are ?
>>
>> Quoting Ryan Delgrosso via VoiceOps <voiceops at voiceops.org>:
>>
>>> I would not place any bets on there being a holistic end state  
>>> worldview attached to this acquisition vs it just being a  
>>> metabolic process.
>>>
>>> Microsoft had a hole in their Teams / SFB product. The telco side sucked.
>>>
>>> They thought they could buy a telco vendor and fill that hole. The  
>>> driving exec team would get to place a feather in their caps and  
>>> claim they drew the proverbial sword from the stone and should  
>>> each be granted their own kingdoms.
>>>
>>> The Metaswitch ownership got to take delivery of gold plated  
>>> dumptrucks full of cash.
>>>
>>> Once the ink was dry a culture war ensued. Metaswitch wanted to  
>>> continue sucking in their own entirely British/telco way where the  
>>> end user carrier should not be permitted to do almost anything.  
>>> Microsoft insisted they begin sucking in entirely new  
>>> cloud/azurian ways. In response nearly all meta employees have  
>>> exited, so there's now a disenfranchised customer base of orphaned  
>>> carriers and no supporting brainpower, meanwhile all customers  
>>> have felt the sword of Damocles over them the whole time never  
>>> sure if their business would have a path forward. Many have  
>>> already made other plans for product continuity by switching to  
>>> other vendors or outsourcing their tech entirely.
>>>
>>> The purges I believe concluded last year with most of the original  
>>> meta team members being released save for a very select few who  
>>> were offered roles inside the teams / azure org.
>>>
>>> I think this sale is Microsoft selling the proverbial owl-pellet  
>>> of what remains of its Metaswitch acquisition. I'm not sure what  
>>> actual value Microsoft actually derived from this exercise but I  
>>> am sure this move represents the final step of digestion where  
>>> some loss/depreciation is written off in FY24
>>>
>>> -Ryan
>>>
>>> On 12/11/2024 9:51 AM, Alex Balashov via VoiceOps wrote:
>>>>> On Dec 11, 2024, at 12:46 pm, Enzo Damato via VoiceOps  
>>>>> <voiceops at voiceops.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I think Microsoft's big goal with this was to acquire a working,  
>>>>> reliable SIP and IMS stack. I would put money on the metaswtich  
>>>>> technology being a big part of what's running teams and their  
>>>>> other VoIP platforms in the backed. Now that they've presumably  
>>>>> merged that tech into their stack, they have no interest in  
>>>>> continuing to service the ILEC/CLEC market.
>>>> You might be right. But if they had just licensed this from a  
>>>> major softswitch vendor like Metaswitch, or got the professional  
>>>> services / consulting arm of Metaswitch (or whoever) to do the  
>>>> integration for them, they might have spent a lot less than  
>>>> $270MM and without any of the drama.
>>>>
>>>> -- Alex
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>