IBM acquires Sterling Commerce for £973m

Big Blue adds to its WebSphere arm

Sterling Commerce complements WebSphere arm, says Big Blue

Tech giant IBM announced today it has agreed to buy integration service provider Sterling Commerce from comms provider AT&T for £973m.

Sterling Commerce's products will complement IBM's WebSphere middleware arm and the acquisition will also see Big Blue get the smaller company's large trading partner network.

Craig Hayman, IBM WebSphere general manager, said the acquisition would give IBM new tools to help clients build dynamic business networks connecting partners, suppliers and clients.

Hayman said: "This will deliver a consistent customer experience across networks and the fact that much of this can be done in the cloud will make it compelling to large numbers of our customers."

IBM's strategy of helping firms to connect business networks together was helped earlier in May when it acquired tools specialist Cast Iron Systems to make it easier for firms to link cloud services to local applications and services.

Another link in the dynamic business network chain was the acquisition of leading network automation specialists Intelliden in February.

IBM and AT&T expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2010, subject to normal regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

IBM said that all Sterling Commerce employees – about 2,500 – would be moved into its WebSphere arm in IBM's Software Group.