IBM to Buy StoredIQ for Big Data Portfolio

IBM announced an agreement to acquire software maker StoredIQ to add to Big Blue's beefy big data analytics stable.

IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire StoredIQ, a provider of solutions for handling unstructured enterprise data.

Financial terms of the deal to acquire the privately held Austin, Texas-based software company were not disclosed. However, the move bolsters IBM's big data analytics initiatives by expanding Big Blue's Information Lifecycle Governance (ILG) suite, which helps companies analyze, automate and implement governance policies across big data and dispose of that information in an automated way.

StoredIQ will advance IBM's efforts to help clients derive value from big data and respond more efficiently to litigation and regulations, dispose of information that has outlived its purpose and lower data storage costs, IBM officials said. The addition of StoredIQ capabilities also enables IBM customers to find and use unstructured information of value.

IBM has invested more than $16 billion in more than 30 analytics-related acquisitions. In 2012 alone, IBM closed nine acquisitions, including Kenexa, Tealeaf, Vivisimo, Varicent, Worklight, Green Hat, Emptoris, DemandTec and Platform Computing. The StoredIQ acquisition also builds on the 2010 acquisition of PSS Systems and Vivisimo and adds to IBM's capabilities in rapid discovery, effective governance and timely disposal of data, the company said.

According to analyst reports, an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day, IBM said. Data volume growth now far exceeds budget and revenue growth rates for most organizations, and it overwhelms legal hold processes, records and retention management, and allocation and decommissioning of applications. In fact, information volume doubles every 18 to 24 months in most organizations.

However, the need to understand what information exists, and to manage it, has also grown exponentially. Whether required for legal e-discovery, compliance mandates, internal governance or storage optimization, fundamentally, this mountain of data now represents enormous risk and cost to a company. Companies need a smart solution to overcome these big data challenges.

"CIOs and general counsels are overwhelmed by volumes of information that exceed their budgets and their capacity to meet legal requirements," Deidre Paknad, vice president of Information Lifecycle Governance at IBM, said in a statement. "With this acquisition, IBM adds to its unique strengths as a provider able to help CIOs and attorneys rapidly drive out excess information cost and mitigate legal risks while improving information utility for the business."  

Adding StoredIQ to IBM's Information Lifecycle Governance suite gives organizations more effective governance of the vast majority of data, including efficient electronic discovery and its timely disposal, to eliminate unnecessary data that consumes infrastructure and elevates risk, IBM said.