IBM has agreed to buy security intelligence software firm I2 for an undisclosed amount. While IBM has been comparatively light on acquisitions this year, this one when combined with the earlier acquisitions this year suddenly becomes very interesting. As part of the “Smarter Cities” initiative the I2 acquisition puts IBM in a very strong position for city projects. This combined with the acquisition of NISC (National Interest Security Company) and Initiate (a Master Data Management firm) earlier this year it would seem that IBM’s push for “Big Data Analytics” has not only really taken off, but is gaining momentum.
To a BI geek this is really exciting news. What will IBM do? How will they leverage this? This certainly would seem to make IBM’s public sector BI offering more compelling, what will Oracle and SAP and other competitors do in response? Exciting times.
