It’s a match made in unified communications (UC) heaven: ShoreTel announced it is acquiring hosted UC company M5 Networks. With two big UC companies merging their resources, what can we expect to get?  Quite a wedding. Check it out …

It’s official. They’re getting hitched. M5 Networks has signed a “definitive agreement” to be acquired by ShoreTel, enabling both to expand their global UC reach. With both on-premise and hosted UC solutions under the same roof, the combination offers an ever-expanding possibility for new and expanding customer relationships, along with deepened partner portfolios that blend the best of both worlds (much like the Sophos/Astaro acquisition).

M5’s assets also will allow ShoreTel to build out its existing technology solutions in the cloud and reach a new market of customers demanding hosted voice over IP communications. ShoreTel sees this as a blossoming of the UC-as-a-Service marketplace, and ShoreTel CEO Peter Blackmore in particular sees this as a natural progression. “This acquisition is a critical step in our evolution and enables the company to capitalize on trends in cloud computing and advance our enterprise communications strategy,” he said.

ShoreTel will operate M5 as a separate business unit, headed up by current M5 CEO Dan Hoffman, who will serve as president and general manger of the new M5 business unit and be tasked with providing “an intense focus on customer satisfaction.” Hoffman said he believes ShoreTel can help M5 Networks “reach our ambitions of scale and cement our position in the hosted UC marketplace.”

The entire acquisition is set to close in March 2012.

Be sure to check out ShoreTel’s other recent moves, including its partner program upgrade and new VMware Ready status.