IBM (NYSE: IBM) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Platform Computing. Although the financial terms have not been disclosed, the acquisition is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Platform Computing provides applications that fuel product development and critical business decisions, among other services. In combination with IBM systems, IBM said it will better serve enterprise clients using technical computing in reducing cost and easing management of data.
Helene Armitage, general manager of IBM systems software, indicated the acquisition is a “strategic element for the transformation of high performance computing into the high growth segment of technical computing.” The company said the technical computing market opportunity is more than $14 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $18.5 billion by 2014.
The acquisition will help accelerate IBM’s growth in smarter computing, part of IBM’s smarter planet strategy, which has been estimated to drive $10 billion in revenue for IBM by 2015.
