IBM Acquires Initiate Systems

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IBM on Wednesday acquired Initiate Systems, a privately held developer of data integrity software applications for the healthcare and government markets.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Chicago-based company’s multi-domain master data management (MDM) applications help customers share information, improve data quality and easily access patient and clinical data.

“With the addition of Initiate’s software and its industry expertise, IBM will offer clients a comprehensive solution for delivering the information they need to improve the well-being of patients at a lower cost,” Arvind Krishna, general manager of IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) information management group, said in a statement. “Similarly, our government clients will now have even more capabilities for gathering and making use of information to serve citizens in a timely and efficient manner.”

The purchase marks IBM’s 30th acquisition in the business analytics and intelligence sector. Its recently announced Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting group now includes a team of 4,000 consultants and is supported by an overall investment of more than $10 billion set aside for organic growth and acquisitions, it said.

IBM officials added that this week’s deal will close sometime in the first quarter and that Initiate staff will be folded into its information management business unit.

Shares of IBM were up $0.20 a share to $125.73 in early Wednesday trading.

Big Blue has been on a bit of shopping spree in the past year. In December, IBM picked up process management software developer Lombardi.

In November, IBM added Guardium, a privately held company that develops software applications that protects enterprise databases from being deliberately or accidentally accessed by unauthorized users.

Larry Barrett is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.