IBM To Acquire Platform Computing

IBM announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Platform Computing, a privately held company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Platform Computing is a global leader in cluster and grid management software for distributed computing environments. The acquisition is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

From departmental clusters to enterprise grids, Platform Computing management software helps clients create, integrate and manage shared computing environments that are used in resource-intensive applications such as simulations, computer modeling and analytics.

These technical and high performance computing (HPC) applications fuel product development, critical business decisions and breakthrough science in financial services, manufacturing, digital media, oil and gas, life sciences, government, and research and education.

Across enterprises of all sizes, application complexity and the amount of data continue to grow significantly, driving the need for more and more compute capacity. By combining Platform Computing’s software with IBM high performance systems and software, IBM can better serve enterprise clients who are turning to technical computing to reduce the cost and complexity of managing and analyzing massive amounts of data in a timely fashion.

The combined opportunity for servers, storage and systems software for technical computing is over $14 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow over 8 percent annually to $18.5 billion by 2014, according to IDC.

Platform Computing currently serves over 2,000 clients including 23 of the top 30 largest global enterprises. Example customers include CERN, Citigroup, Infineon, Pratt & Whitney, Red Bull Racing, Sanger Institute, Statoil and University of Tokyo.

Platform Computing’s focused technical and distributed computing management software suite complements IBM’s high-performance platforms including System x, BladeCenter, Power Systems and System Storage, as well as the IBM software portfolio, including Tivoli management and WebSphere application infrastructure.

Platform Computing’s operations as of the closing will be integrated into IBM Systems and Technology Group. Platform Computing has approximately 500 employees worldwide.