Integration has become more than just a buzzword for IBM Corp.
Today, Big Blue announced that it had acquired Metamerge in Oslo for an undisclosed amount. The directory integration software vendor marks IBM’s third such integration purchase in the past nine months.
In October, IBM purchased enterprise application integration vendor CrossWorlds Software Inc. in Burlingame, Calif., and has already bundled those adapters into a host of new offerings.
The Metamerge acquisition now gives IBM the ability to link disparate user directories with its integration software.
Ambuj Goyal, general manager for solutions and strategy for IBM’s software group, called directory integration “one of the critical pieces IBM did not have in terms of software.”
He added that any company with more than 1,000 employees is probably working on multiple directories. The goal for IBM is to use the Metamerge product to link those directories so that users can access multiple applications using a single sign-on and password.
Goyal said the directory integration tools would likely be imbedded in many IBM products, including the WebSphere application server, the DB2 database and Tivoli management software.
IBM is online at http://www.ibm.com