(Telecompaper) Cisco announced an agreement to acquire Tail-f Systems, a developer of network service orchestration products for traditional and virtualized networks. Tail-f's products help service providers and enterprise IT organizations implement applications and network services across networking devices. Headquartered in Stockholm, Tail-f is a privately held company. According to Cisco, its technology helps reduce the time-to-market for network equipment vendors building equipment for software-programmable networks. Upon completion of the acquisition, Tail-f employees will join Cisco's Cloud and Virtualization Group. Cisco will pay approximately USD 175 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Tail-f. The acquisition of Tail-f is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2014.