IBM completes its ninetieth acquisition since 2003

Dec 17, 2009 15:15 GMT  ·  By

In trying to provide its middleware stack with the BPM tools required by ERP workflow software and content management systems, IBM acquired the privately held Austin company Lombardi, which specializes in BPM software and collaborated with IBM's WebSphere in the past.

IBM did not disclose the financial aspects of the acquisition and most financial data on Lombardi is actually unknown because, being privately held, the company does not report its revenues.

What is know about the acquired software developer is that it had no debts in 2008 when it reported that its total sales had increased eightfold since 2003 and, at the very end of 2008, it reported that its total sales had grown by 47% that year. Currently, the company has 200 employees and customers the likes of Capital One, Hasbro, AFLAC, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Uncle Sam. Lombardi scored these customers mostly thanks to its Teamworks BPM tools.

IBM has been interested in BPM since it acquired the IT consulting arm of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. This acquisition occurred back in 2002 and gave IBM quite an amount of BPM know-how. With the knowledge from Lombardi, Big Blue aims to refine its services-oriented architecture (SOA) by optimizing its workflow software, especially across back-end systems and Web content.

Lombardi was formed as far back as 1998 and its founder, Brian Cooper, managed to raise funds of no less that $29 million during the first three rounds of funding. It is this performance that led to the possibility of creating advanced BPM tools that are now used by 300 enterprise-class customers (out of which a high percentage, according to Lombardi CEO Ron Favaron, are IBM shops).

IBM already has 1,000 BPM specialists ready to start working on the acquired Lombardi products and, following this acquisition, IDC reports that global BPM revenues are expected to grow by 15% each year between 2009 and 2013 (from $1.7bn to $3bn). Lombardi's products are set to become an integral part of Big Blue's middleware division. Favaron will be the unit's vice president.

Lombardi is IBM's ninetieth acquisition since 2003 and the eighth one done during the past year. The deal is expected to close in about a month.