Cradlepoint, which provides software-defined 4G LTE network solutions for enterprises, has acquired Pertino, a privately held Silicon Valley company that delivers cloud-based networking services to enterprises and SMB customers worldwide.

Cradlepoint Inc. provides enterprises with "always-on" 4G LTE WANs that overlay the Internet, to meet the demands of cloud, mobile and the Internet of Things. By 2020, more than 72% of the workforce in the US alone will be mobile, tablets and smartphones will far exceed PCs and servers, and more than 8 billion "things" will need secure, "always-on" Internet connections, Cradlepoint said.

Cradlepoint is looking to use Pertino 's technology and expertise to bolster its networking offerings, Cradlepoint said in a statement. Financial details of the deal, announced December 8, were not disclosed.

Cradlepoint is a privately held company based in Boise, Idaho, founded in 2006, which claims more than 15,000 enterprise, SMB and government customers worldwide.

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Pertino provides a virtual switch that runs in the cloud, connecting virtual machines to multiple public clouds, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. Its vision is to provide networking on demand, the same way that Amazon provides computing on demand. The company started with SMBs, then broadened to midsized and large enterprises. In April, it had about 5,000 production networks with more than 300 customers in 80 countries, Pertino executives told Light Reading. The company had 50 employees in April, with about $28 million in funding. (See Pertino Bolsters Virtual Networking Security.)

— Mitch Wagner, , West Coast Bureau Chief, Light Reading. Got a tip about SDN or NFV? Send it to [email protected].