Mergers & Acquisitions on Ulitzer

IBM, which has eleven cloud computing labs around the world including one that is due to open in Singapore later this week, has already unveiled - last November - the world's largest private cloud computing environment for business analytics, an internal cloud called BlueInsight. Today, it has rounded out its Cloud strategy by acquiring Cast Iron Systems, advancing in a single step IBM’s capabilities for a so-called "hybrid" cloud model - attractive to enterprises because it allows them to blend data from on-premise applications with public and private cloud systems.

"IBM’s acquisition of Cast Iron Systems will help make cloud computing a reality for organizations around the world that are seeking greater flexibility and cost efficiency in their IT operations," the company stated in its announcement earlier today.

Cast Iron Systems is a privately held company based in Mountain View, CA.

IBM’s industry-leading business process and integration software portfolio grew more than 20 percent in the first quarter of 2010, a growth that this deal will bolster.

“The integration challenges Cast Iron Systems is tackling are crucial to clients who are looking to adopt alternative delivery models to manage their businesses,” said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM WebSphere (pictured). “The combination of IBM and Cast Iron Systems will make it easy for clients to integrate business applications, no matter where those applications reside. This will give clients greater agility and as a result, better business outcomes,” he added.

“Through IBM, we can bring Cast Iron Systems’ capabilities as the world’s leading provider of cloud integration software and services to a global customer set,” said Ken Comée, president and chief executive officer, Cast Iron Systems. He continued:

“Companies around the world will now gain access to our technologies through IBM’s global reach and its vast network of partners. As part of IBM, we will be able to offer clients a broader set of software, services and hardware to support their cloud and other IT initiatives.”

The IBM Software Group has acquired more than 55 companies since 2003.

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