Cisco has entered into a deal to acquire privately-held newScale, a company whose software delivers self-service portals for IT firms to select and deploy cloud services.

The Californian-based newScale allows customers to initiate the provisioning of their own systems and infrastructure on an as-needed basis.

"Cloud computing represents a major shift in the evolution of the Internet, and as more customers migrate from traditional IT infrastructures, the need for rapid self-provisioning and efficient management becomes increasingly critical," said Parvesh Sethi, senior vice president of Cisco Services.

"With the acquisition of newScale, Cisco will be able to accelerate the deployment of cloud services through a service catalog and self-service portal that allows customers to easily manage their IT infrastructures."

Cisco says its cloud strategy is to harness the network as a platform for building and using clouds and cloud services.

"newScale will complement and expand existing Cisco and partner software offerings in IT and cloud management and automation," said Cisco.

Once the deal is sealed the newScale team will report into Cisco's Advanced Services organisation.