IBM announced it has acquired Diligent Technologies, a privately held storage "de-duplication" technology company. Diligent's technologies and employees will become part of the IBM System Storage business unit of the IBM Systems and technology Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Diligent develops in-line data de-duplication software that is integrated with server and storage infrastructures to help organizations significantly reduce the amount and cost of physical storage required in data centers. Enterprise and mid-sized organizations are faced with data centers that are reaching a breaking point of complexity and manageability, while at the same time experiencing explosive demands for storage for new data, transactions, email and back-up files.
The Diligent acquisition will be an important part of IBM's New Enterprise Data Center model, which helps clients improve IT efficiency and facilitates the rapid deployment of new IT services for future business growth. The new model is based on best practices for virtualization, green IT, service management and cloud computing.
Research indicates that organizations are increasingly investing in data de-duplication solutions for e-mail, database, and other storage-intensive and mission-critical applications. According to a recent study of 152 Fortune 1000 enterprises by TheInfoPro, 56 percent of those surveyed spent more on data de-duplication in 2007 when compared to 2006, and that increased spending trend is expected to continue in 2008.
"Diligent's data de-duplication software is a critical technology that will be integrated into the IBM Storage portfolio to further extend our information infrastructure strategy, allowing our clients to eliminate redundant data and streamline the infrastructure required to support their business," said Fetra Syahbana, Country System Sales Executive, IBM Indonesia.
On the other hand, Doron Kempel, Chairman and CEO, Diligent said that they are pleased to become a key member of the IBM System Storage family, knowing IBM has the industry's most comprehensive vision for the future direction of storage and data-protection. Moreover, IBM has the requisite technologies in order to realize that vision.
This acquisition is the third storage related acquisition for IBM in the past few months. IBM has made several strategic storage-related acquisitions recently in addition to XIV and FilesX, including Arsenal, NovusCG, and Softek. IBM's acquisition of Diligent supports the IBM growth strategy and capital allocation model, as part of the company's overall objective for earnings-per-share growth through 2010.
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