IBM has announced that it will acquire Business Intelligence (BI) vendor Cognos for $5 billion.
For IBM, the Cognos acquisition is a continuation of a “growth through mergers-and-acquisitions” effort it launched in February, 2006. Since then, IBM has bought 23 software companies as part of its Information on Demand strategy, which combines software and services to help corporations get the most out of all the data they gather about customers and their own business operations.
The BI segment has been witness to some major acquisitions with industry analysts speculating that the string of acquisitions makes it more difficult for new players to enter a field shadowed by giants.
More information:
IBM to buy Canada’s Cognos for $5 billion (MarketWatch)
Cognos Buy a Defensive Move for IBM (PC World)
IBM Follows Rivals’ BI Moves With $5B Cognos Bid (InternetNews)
Best of breed: No need for an obit (ZDNet)
Is consolidation in the BI space great news for enterprises?
