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VIRTUALISATION IBM to acquire predictive analytics specialist
VIRTUALISATION IBM to acquire predictive analytics specialist | IBM to acquire predictive analytics specialist |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Wednesday, 29 July 2009 | |
  
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The $US1.2 billion deal, which is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, will be structured as a merger. "With this acquisition, we are extending our capabilities around a new level of analytics that not only provides clients with greater insight - but true foresight," said Ambuj Goyal, IBM's general manager, information management. "Predictive analytics can help clients move beyond the 'sense and respond' mode, which can leave blind spots for strategic information in today's fast paced environment - to 'predict and act' for improved business outcomes." Jack Noonan, chairman, CEO and president of SPSS said "We're excited about this agreement and the positive prospects that SPSS and IBM can achieve together in continuing to lead an industry that we helped shape. The depth and breadth of IBM's resources, its customer and market reach can only enhance our ability to address the growing market for predictive analytics. "In joining with IBM, we will advance predictive analytics as a competitive advantage for companies and organizations worldwide. We see this as a transformative event that will accelerate the adoption of predictive analytics." Predictive analytics can be applied to a variety of areas in order to make decision based on large amounts of data. Examples include reducing credit risk, generating relevant 'upsell' suggestions, and predicting areas where crimes are likely to be committed. IBM intends to integrate the technology into a variety of its products. SPSS started as a statistical package developed at Stanford University that was subsequently commercialised. The company claims a number of firsts, including the first statistical software products for PC DOS and Windows. In later years the company pursued an acquisition strategy that saw it spread into areas such as data mining, business intelligence, web analytics and predictive analytics. Predictive analytics is now SPSS's core business. This was recently reflected in the decision to rename the various product lines under the PASW (Predictive Analytics SoftWare) name. For example, SPSS Statistics became PASW Statistics. Since the SPSS products will become part of IBM's Information on Demand portfolio, it seems likely that the respected SPSS brand will disappear completely. |
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