Cisco buys collaboration software firm Versly

US networking giant Cisco announced Monday it has acquired Versly, a startup that makes collaboration tools for Microsoft's popular Office software.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Software developed by the San Francisco-based Versly allows for collaboration around content in Office programs such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Cisco said the acquisition of the privately held Versly will allow it to provide enhanced collaboration solutions to customers.

"We're enhancing our collaboration offerings and improving the user experience by integrating social technologies within the business applications individuals and teams use at work," Murali Sitaram, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Collaboration Software Group, said in a statement.

"The integration with Versly will drive productivity improvements for organizations and their knowledge workers, many of whom are among the 600 million Microsoft Office users," Sitaram said.

Cisco said Versly software will be integrated into products such as Cisco Quad, Cisco Jabber and Cisco WebEx.

Versly was founded by Benjamin Renaud, formerly of Sun, and former Yahoo! executive Erik Eccles and has received financial backing from Accel Partners, Baseline Ventures and 500 Startups.

(c) 2011 AFP