Today, Cisco announced the close of our acquisition of Jasper, a leading IoT service platform provider that powers the IoT initiatives of more than 3,500 enterprises worldwide. With Jasper's cloud-based platform, companies of all sizes -and in any industry -can rapidly and cost-effectively launch, manage and monetize IoT services on a global scale.

I sat down with Jahangir Mohammed, Founder and CEO of Jasper -and now GM of the newly-formed IoT Cloud Business Unit at Cisco -to discuss what this means for Cisco, our customers, our service provider partners, and IoT adoption as a whole.

RT:The response Jahangir and I have received since February's announcement about the Jasper acquisition has been remarkable.  We've seen excitement across the board -from our enterprise customers, the service provider community and our ecosystem partners. Industry analysts, like the one below highlight broader industry recognition of the benefits of this partnership.

"IoT is a key piece of enabling Digital Transformation for today's enterprises. Cisco already hasthe network equipment, cloud, analytics and security layers, and the addition of Jasper brings the critical IoT service platform layer needed to provide enterprises with a complete digitization strategy," said Carrie MacGillivray, Vice President, Mobile & Internet of Things at IDC. "This acquisition provides value for both Cisco and Jasper's enterprise customers, their service provider partners, and broader IoT ecosystem partners."

JM:Our customers are enthusiastic about the combined value that Cisco and Jasper will bring to their businesses. These are industry leaders who are using IoT to drive business transformation and thrive on continuous innovation. They are always looking for ways to create new experiences for their customers and unlock new sources of revenue. A great example is Telular, a leading provider of solutions for commercial telematics, security, and bulk storage management. Telular's TankLink business delivers information on temperature, liquid levels and geolocation for the oil and gas industry. Using the Jasper IoT service platform, TankLink remote inventory management solutions deliver the highly-accurate, 24/7 tank level information that is necessary for efficient and cost-saving replenishment decisions.

"As a Jasper customer for the past seven years, I am excited about the combined vision of Cisco and Jasper," said Shawn Welsh, Senior Vice President of Product Line Management and Marketing at Telular. "This acquisition will help accelerate innovation in the IoT market, providing our business with new ways to grow by offering more differentiated services to our customers."

RT:We brought Jasper into Cisco because the opportunities to build on Control Center and add value were obvious. In industries such as oil and gas, like the TankLink example, a major concern for customers lies in ensuring that IT solutions are validated according to stringent industry safety guidelines. On one side customers are looking to harvest benefits of IoT, but on the other they have to deal with the high risk on health, safety, and environment, if things go wrong. Cisco is removing roadblocks for IoT to be deployed in these industries by working on validated IoT designs that meet these safety requirements in collaboration with industry leaders such as Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Emerson, Rockwell, and others.  These relationships and validated designs will help Cisco will help extend the value of Jasper into wider areas of the oil & gas industry.

And this is just one industry example of the value Cisco and Jasper bring. We are thrilled to welcome Jasper to Cisco -and we're even more excited to show you how we will transform IoT in the years to come.

Now that acquisition is complete, Jahangir and I are focused on executing against our shared vision, to accelerate IoT adoption and our customers' IoT success, on a global scale. Digitization is creating a world where everything intelligent will be connected, and shaping a new, service-driven economy. Jasper's IoT platform is just the beginning. Cisco's IoT Cloud Business Unit will deliver comprehensive IoT solutions that make it easy for enterprise customers, service providers and ecosystem partners to capitalize on this business transformation.

JM:The IoT opportunity in front of us right now is enormous and immediate. Jasper and Cisco have the combined talent, technology, expertise and scale to help service providers, enterprise customers and ecosystem partners worldwide capture their share of the market today and innovate over time. With the IoT Cloud Business Unit, Cisco is moving up the stack to deliver a complete portfolio that simplifies the launch, management and monetization of IoT service for everyone.

RT:The growth we've seen in the sector over the past few years is just mind blowing -and it's only going to accelerate. I'm super confident that no other company is better positioned to capitalize on this huge opportunity. I truly believe we are better together -Cisco and Jasper will transform the IoT market.