Alcatel-Lucent announced today that it's acquired Internet of Things (IoT) security firm Mformation for an undisclosed amount, saying the combination of Alcatel’s Motive portfolio and Mformation’s security and device management technology will allow network operators to manage any endpoint.
New Jersey-based Mformation will be incorporated into Alcatel-Lucent's IP Platforms business.
Alcatel-Lucent's Motive customer experience platform does device management across home, mobile and enterprise networks. Alcatel paid $68 million to buy Motive back in 2008.
According to Mformation, its technology manages more than 500 million devices worldwide.
Mformation, which was founded in 1999, made the news in 2012 when it lost a patent infringement lawsuit against Research in Motion (RIM) for $147.2 million, related to re-configuring wireless devices remotely. Unfortunately for Mformation, its loss in court resulted mostly from poor wording within its patent, as DailyTech reported at the time. RIM, for its part, has since changed its public brand to BlackBerry and is operating as a shadow of its former self after failing to compete with other smartphones.