IBM to Acquire Netezza for Performance Monitoring Appliance

IBM will acquire Netezza, a publicly held company based in Marlborough, Mass., in a cash transaction at a price of $27 per share or at a net price of approximately $1.7 billion, after adjusting for cash.


Netezza offers a data warehousing appliance that handles complex analytic queries 10 to 100 times faster than traditional systems. Netezza claims over 350 clients across a variety of industries, including eHarmony, Neiman Marcus, Time Warner, Estee Lauder, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, United HealthGroup, Nationwide Insurance, Sapporo, NYSE Euronext, Virgin Media and others. Netezza has approximately 500 employees around the world.


The Netezza appliances are developed on IBM systems technology. The two companies have been strategic partners for many years focused on workload optimized systems that deliver integrated systems, software and storage for analyzing vast amounts of complex data. Both IBM and Netezza see the importance of integration from the multiprocessor through middleware to business consulting to bring a higher level of efficiency through workload optimized systems. For example, Netezza appliance capabilities highlight integrated software with unique FPGA-Accelerated Streaming Technology (FAST) that allows the system to execute analytic queries at streaming speeds of up to milliseconds, significantly improving the performance and response times for critical business decisions.


"IBM is bringing analytics to the masses. We continue to evolve our capabilities for systems integration, bringing together optimized hardware and software, in response to increasing demand for technology that delivers true business value. Netezza is a perfect example of this approach," said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software and Systems. "Netezza strongly complements our business analytics capabilities and client base. Together, we have the opportunity to quickly leverage the technology and accelerate the offering."


"Our vision of an appliance-based Intelligent Economy aligns very well with IBM's Smarter Planet strategy. Netezza appliances set the standard for performance and simplicity in data warehousing and analytics," said Jim Baum, President and CEO of Netezza. "Our customers choose our appliances for their fast time to value and how they simplify analytics against big data. Together with IBM, we are looking forward to extending our capabilities to a much broader market."


The acquisition expands IBM's information and analytics offerings, including services available through IBM's Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting organization. In the last four years, IBM has invested more than $12 billion in 23 analytics related acquisitions. In IBM's second-quarter of 2010, IBM's analytics business grew 14%.
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