IBM Acquires
Candle
You
have probably noticed the fabulous acquisition race in the
middleware segment that’s been going on for the last 12 months or
so. Don’t expect it to slow down anytime soon.
Every time we stop to take a breath, another of the major
players – IBM, HP, or Sun – announces another acquisition, as
they move to broaden and deepen their portfolios.
They know that most customers are going to select ONE
strategic vendor to automate, integrate, virtualize, and manage
their IT systems and each wants to be the one with the most, the
best, and the most integrated offering.
IBM
announced on Thursday that it is acquiring Candle Corporation, an
important player, best known for its role in automating data center
management, optimizing application infrastructure, and delivering
real-time application analytics to business process owners.
Perhaps best known for its mainframe offerings, Candle also
provides products for distributed platforms.
Candle
is a good fit for IBM – nearly all of their customers are also IBM
customers and their products fit snugly into IBM’s important
middleware strategy, providing customers with an enhanced set of
software solutions for managing IBM’s on demand operating
environment.
Candle has more than 3,000 customers worldwide.
IBM intends to provide Candle’s existing solutions to
current customers while integrating the technology throughout
IBM’s middleware products. It
will be managed as part of IBM’s Tivoli group.
Ultimately, the Candle products will be merged into future
products, offering the best of both Candle and IBM product
offerings, according to Bob LeBlanc, General Manager of Tivoli.
Candle is a private company and has been an IBM partner since its
founding in 1976. The
financial details of the transaction were not disclosed; it is
expected to close in the second quarter.
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