Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
We have already seen a large number of technology firms being acquired in 2016, with some of the biggest names in the IT world snapping up innovative startups and investing vast amounts of capital and shares for larger companies.
So far we have seen Apple, Oracle, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft all loosen the purse strings and shell out some hefty sums to acquire a company or two that will either help them build out an existing service or lay the foundations for a new business unit.
To help keep track on who owns who and the areas where the big players have their eyes on, we have a rundown of the top technology acquisition of 2016 so far.
10. Salesforce snaps up deep learning startup MetaMind RMC
Salesforce's latest acquisition was for startup MetaMind, which focuses on natural language-based deep learning. Salesforce has plans to integrate machine learning and smart capabilities with its cloud-based customer relationship management products in a move that could help to automate CRM data analysis and see its tools make suggestions to salespeople about when and how to contact new and repeat customers.
The acquisition will see all MetaMind's services coming under the Salesforce umbrella, while its research and development operation will be absorbed into the larger company.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
9. IBM buys Resilient Systems to reignite growth
When IBM files its latest results this month, it is a fair bet that it will be its 16th straight quarter of falling revenue. That is four years of non-stop decline.
But it still has plenty of resources that can be brought to bear shifting the company from ‘big tin' to in-demand software and services. That is what the company's $100m acquisition of security incident-response company Resilient Systems is intended to contribute to.
The fact that Resilient's chief technology officer is security guru and cryptography legend Bruce Schneier is probably all the assurance anyone needs about the quality of the company's technology. From the aqusition, Big Blue also gains access to Schneier's skills.
IBM, according to Schneier, is actually one of the largest security software and services companies in the world, and also has an enviable track record of successfully integrating its purchases.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
8. BlackBerry buys UK firm Encription to bolster cyber security
BlackBerry has long prided itself on its ability to provide encrypted messaging services.
But sometimes it looks beyond its own engineers and acquires security technology by purchasing another company. This was the case with its recent acquisition of UK company Encription.
The purchase was a move to boost the cyber security services offered to customers.
BlackBerry was keen to highlight the capabilities that Encription brings to its portfolio, including penetration testing and the fact that it is accredited with the UK government's highest security standard CESG CHECK IT and ISO/IEC 27001 certifications.
Encription also has a wide-ranging customer base from central and local government departments to SMEs and large corporates, financial institutions, manufacturers and charities.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
7. Intel acquires Replay Technologies to push into 3D sport
Back in March, Intel acquired Israeli 3D video specialist Replay Technologies in a move to bring its enterprise technology into sport broadcasting.
Replay Technologies and Intel have been partners since 2013. Their most recent project involved 360-degree broadcasts of the NBA All-Star Weekend, specifically in the Slam Dunk contest where basketball players pull off spectacular shots.
The company's proprietary freeD 3D video rendering format uses 28 ultra high-definition cameras and computational power from Intel's servers to broadcast the contest in a way that provides a 360-degree view of the dunks.
Wendell Brooks, president of Intel Capital, explained that the purchase of Replay will see Intel scale up the use of freeD to create what it call "immersive sports" for broadcasters and fans.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
6. Oracle boosts cloud scope by buying Textura and Opower
Oracle has gone on a bit of a spending spree this year, having purchased two companies within days of each other. Both acquisitions aimed to boost the software giant's cloud portfolio.
The first was for specialist software firm Textura for $663m. Textura provides specialist cloud-based software to support the management of construction projects, and will be merged with Oracle's Primavera suite of software also aimed at project management, such as handling costs, time and risk factors.
The combined cloud services will form the Oracle Engineering and Construction Global Business unit, effectively offering a more comprehensive set of project management tools for the industry.
Oracle has reworked Primavera as a software-as-a-service offering, and combined with Textura will offer the cloud software as a way to help the engineering and construction industry shift to more digital services.
Hot on the heels of the Textura deal Oracle purchased software-as-a-service firm Opower for a hefty $532m. Oracle will use the acquisition to build out its utilities business unit with Opower's analytics platform, which sifts through data from devices such as energy meters in order to help utilities companies reduce their costs and better engage with their customers.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
5. IBM buys Truven Health Analytics and The Weather Company
IBM regularly buys companies with products and services that can be used to augment its data analytics portfolio. And the first half of 2016 saw two such deals.
The first was February's acquisition of The Weather Company, which provides forecasts to organisations across the globe based on real-time analysis of atmospheric data.
The Weather Company's cloud data platform, which is said to power the fourth most used mobile app in the US, will run across IBM Cloud data centres and act as a backbone for IBM's Watson IoT Cloud and other IBM data services.
IBM will also make use of sensors deployed by The Weather Company to create forecasts and weather prediction models.
This will in turn provide more data that can be channelled into the Watson ecosystem, which already consists of IoT services for the automotive and electronics worlds, and includes tools for predictive maintenance and facilities management.
Also in February, IBM announced plans to acquire cloud-based healthcare data and analytics firm Truven Health Analytics for $2.6bn.
The acquisition will be used to bolster IBM's Watson Health division through providing access to data on around 215 million patients stored in Truven's database. This data will be used to fuel the analysis and cognitive computing capabilities that Watson Health offers to the healthcare industry.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
4. Intel buys Yogitech to boost IoT security
Last month, Intel acquired Internet of Things (IoT) startup Yogitech, in a bid to boost the chip giant's involvement in the much-talked about IoT space.
Yogitech was founded in 2000, and works on functional security for semiconductors, an unexciting but important focus, as it ensures that connected devices are secure and functioning correctly, one of the key concerns of any organisation looking to benefit from the use of IoT.
Yogitech's focus up until this point has been on advanced driver assistance systems, and robotic and autonomous machines for industrial and automotive use where functional safety is vital.
It is unclear how Yogitech will fit into Intel's strategy other than that it will become part of the firm's IoT Group.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
3. Apple buys face analysis startup Emotient
News of Apple scooping up facial recognition firm Emotient broke back in January and subsequently fuelled speculation that the firm was gearing up to add face pattern analysis to its Siri virtual assistant as it looks to tackle the likes of Google and Microsoft in the artificial intelligence space.
Naturally, Apple didn't give any details beyond the usual statement that it buys companies from time to time, but with Emotient providing technology that interprets facial emotions to assess people's reactions to different forms of media such as videos and adverts, such a move would make sense.
Emotient's technology has also been used to monitor medical patients for signs of pain and to analyse people's expressions in retail outlets, hinting that Apple also plans to build it into its own Health products.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
2. Microsoft snaps up SwiftKey
SwiftKey has long been one of the biggest names in the third-party keyboard world, so it's no surprise that Microsoft spent a cool $250m to take the firm under its wing.
Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft's technology and research division, explained in a blog post that the company's interest in SwiftKey stemmed from a commitment to bringing new technology to its software and services portfolio.
"SwiftKey's predictive technology aligns with Microsoft's investments and ambition to develop intelligent systems that can work more on the user's behalf and under their control," he said.
Microsoft did not go into many details about how SwiftKey will be brought into the corporate fold, but Reynolds and Medlock said that the firm will continue working on iOS and Android apps.
Top 10 tech corporate buyouts of 2016
Computing examines the biggest corporate acquisitions of the past five months
1. Microsoft acquires Solair
Microsoft stepped up its assault on the burgeoning Internet of Things market this month by buying Italian IoT services specialist Solair, whose customers include companies in the manufacturing, retail, food & beverage and transportation sectors.
Solair's current IoT customisation and deployment solutions are built on top of Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, so it will be easy for the software giant to integrate Solair's technology with its own Azure IoT Suite, launched last year.
Azure IoT Suite packages together multiple Azure services with custom extensions as preconfigured solutions for specific use cases, based on the core Azure IoT Hub, a service for connecting and managing devices as well as linking them to other services such as Azure Stream Analytics and Azure Storage.