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By Mel Duvall
IBM announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal to acquire Lombardi Software, a privately held company specializing in business process management software.
IBM announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal to acquire Lombardi Software, a privately held company specializing in business process management software.
Lombardi’s products are typically used by companies to automate various business processes at the department level, such as claims management, human resources, product planning, supply chain execution and procurement. Lombardi is headquartered in Austin, Texas and includes Ford Motor Company, AFLAC and Pfizer among its clients. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal caps off a year in which IBM moved aggressively into the BPM arena. Big Blue began the year with a $340 million acquisition of ILOG, a Paris-based BPM software provider with more than 2,500 customers.
IBM says it believes the BPM space will be a strong growth opportunity as organizations search for ways to simplify and streamline their business operations. According to research firm IDC, the market for BPM software is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 15 percent over the next four years, from $1.7 billion in 2009 to $3 billion by 2013.
“Any discussion on business improvement inevitably leads to improving the processes that are at the heart of any company,” said Craig Hayman, IBM’s general manager of application and integration middleware, in a statement. “Recognizing this, IBM has strengthened its presence and investments in business process and integration software to meet these growing client demands.”
For Lombardi, becoming part of IBM will provide it with the resources to go after larger deals, according to chief executive Rod Favaron. “Our shared vision has been to deliver technology that helps companies improve their effectiveness by better managing the processes that keep their businesses running,” said Favaron.
“Becoming part of the IBM family will take this vision to a higher level and enable us to explore new opportunities together in product development, integration and go-to-market strategies,” he added.
The companies noted they have a number of joint clients, particularly in the financial services, government, healthcare, insurance and manufacturing sectors. With the Lombardi acquisition, IBM says it will now have a BPM base of about 5,000 customers.
Analysts believe the BPM sector may be ripe for more deals. Earlier this month systems integrator Capgemini inked a partnership with Pegasystems of Cambridge, Mass. to develop a significant practice around the company’s BPM software.
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