Accedian

Accedian was a Canadian network communication and application monitoring company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It developed service assurance hardware and software for telecommunications service providers and mobile network operators, beginning with a mobile backhaul interface device connecting cell towers to central offices and later extending into network function virtualization and virtualized customer-premises equipment (V-CPE). Its portfolio centered on microsecond-level performance sensors combined with the Skylight analytics platform, delivering high-performance network and user experience monitoring across applications, clouds and networks.

The platform provides end-to-end and full-mesh active network and service testing with microsecond precision, unified network performance and fault management with AI-powered analytics for alert prioritization and root-cause isolation, predictive analytics and intelligent alerting into automation systems for closed-loop control, and real-time KPI and SLA monitoring with multitenant customer-facing portals. Documented use cases include real-time SLA visibility and policing, critical network monitoring, B2B service differentiation, automated assurance across the service lifecycle, multilayer assurance spanning segment routing and routed optical networking, and mobile backhaul and 5G edge monitoring.

Accedian was majority owned by Bridge Growth Partners from 2017 until Cisco completed its acquisition of the company on September 29, 2023. The technology now ships as Cisco Crosswork Assurance, and Accedian service contracts were migrated into Cisco's installed base, support and renewals systems.

Founding story

Patrick Ostiguy founded Accedian in Montreal in 2004 together with four partners. Before Accedian he co-founded Avantas Networks, which launched a portable Ethernet and SONET field-services test set and was acquired by EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering for US$93 million, and he was part of the initial Positron Fiber Systems team that commercialized an Ethernet over SONET multi-service provisioning platform; Positron Fiber Systems was acquired by Reltec in 1997 for $200 million and subsequently by Marconi. Ostiguy has filed several patent applications and remained with the company as Founder and Executive Chairman of the board.

Business model

Accedian sold network performance monitoring and service assurance products — combining hardware sensors and software analytics — to communications service providers, mobile operators and enterprises. Under Bridge Growth Partners' ownership after 2017 the company transformed into what its CEO described as a SaaS-first service assurance platform. Following the Cisco acquisition, the products are sold and renewed through Cisco's global price list, tooling and support processes as Cisco Crosswork Assurance.

Revenue came from sales of assurance sensors, software and platform subscriptions to carriers and enterprises, with an evolution toward a SaaS-first service assurance model after 2017; recurring service agreements and renewals were part of the business and were migrated to Cisco's contract and renewals systems after the acquisition.

Traction

During Summit Partners' investment period, headcount grew fivefold to about 250 employees, the customer base doubled to more than 300 customers across 60-plus countries, and revenue tripled alongside an expanded product portfolio. Deployments cited include Audi, Reliance Jio, Arelion, Colt and stc group.

Latest developments

Cisco completed the acquisition on September 29, 2023, with the Accedian team joining Cisco's Data Center and Provider Connectivity organization within Cisco Networking. The product line is now marketed as Cisco Crosswork Assurance, including a Crosswork Assurance User Experience offering aimed at real-time traffic insight where traffic is encrypted with protocols such as QUIC, and an integration with Splunk that combines performance monitoring with observability and analytics.