In 2003, Eurotech acquired Parvus Corporation creating a synergy enabling the combined companies to expand into a more global presence and make strategic inroads into the embedded computer market, particularly with regards to military and aviation systems. This acquisition also provided Parvus with access to Eurotech’s PC/104 and PC/104-Plus CPU product families. The acquisition remains in effect today, with Parvus continuing to specialize in turnkey subsystems integration and development services, and designing complete embedded computer systems, through the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) building blocks and the company’s in-house engineering, testing, and production expertise.
As it continues to target opportunities within the military segment, Parvus recently announced its development of a ruggedized version of the Cisco IE-3000 switch. This product is a reflection of the demand for ruggedized Cisco technology and Parvus’ expertise in ruggedizing commercial networking technology for more demanding applications than Cisco originally intended.
Parvus has a long-standing relationship with Cisco through Eurotech. Recent Eurotech/Cisco collaborations include the ruggedized DuraMAR 5915, an ultra-rugged Commecial Off the Shelf (COTS) mobile router subsystem, and the 3200 integrated services router (ISR). This ISR product was a result of the Solutions Technology Integrators (STI) agreement between Cisco and Eurotech. The formal STI relationship connects Eurotech professionals to Cisco’s engineering teams allowing for more seamless product design, integration, and an acceleration of embedded solutions into the marketplace.
VDC believes agreements similar to this one between embedded ecosystem participants - equipment manufacturers, merchant embedded systems suppliers, ODMs/ECMs, VARs, and distributors - are becoming more common. When cultivated properly, alliances often allow different companies along the value chain to design and build products more efficiently and to speed up final deployment. The VDC chart below (from Track 1: Embedded Boards & Embedded Integrated Systems Demand Analysis: Volume 4: Military and Aerospace published May 2011) illustrates the relative importance that suppliers of rugged COTS computing and IP networking subsystems such as Parvus place on their relationships with upstream and downstream partners, including Cisco.