IBM has agreed to acquire object storage specialist Cleversafe for an undisclosed amount in a move that will further beef up its hybrid cloud offering.
Big blue has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the developer of object-based storage software and appliances and it will bring IBM hybrid cloud customers a wealth of new options.
"Massive digital transformation is underway as organisations increasingly turn to cloud computing for innovative ways to manage more complex business operations and increasing volumes of data in a secure and effective way," said Robert LeBlanc, Senior Vice President, IBM Cloud. "Cleversafe, a pioneer in object storage, will add to our efforts to help clients overcome these challenges by extending and strengthening our cloud storage strategy, as well as our portfolio."
Cleversafe has been around since 2004 and its object-based on-premise storage solutions allow companies to scale up exabytes of storage in a way that doesn't cost the earth thanks to the nature of the object storage used.
Chief among Cleversafe's offerings is its Dispersed Storage Network (dsNet) that combines on-premise storage options to clients and service providers with low-cost, large scale active archives and unstructured data content stores. Both will be integrated into the IBM Cloud.
350 patents
Clients using IBMSoftLayer cloud services and IBM's BlueMix Platform-as-a-Service, meanwhile, will be able to build applications using Cleversafe's content repository and data archive.
In addition to that, IBM gets access to Cleversafe 350 patents related to object-based and on-premise storage and it's currently unclear whether Cleversafe staff will be moving over to IBM as part of the transaction.
