By
Telecom Lead Team: IBM is set to acquire Worklight, an
Israeli-based provider of mobile software for smartphones and tablets.
Financial
terms were not disclosed.
The
acquisition will enable IBM to expand its mobile offerings to cover mobile
application development, integration, security and management.
Worklight
will become a vital piece of IBM’s mobility strategy, offering clients an open
platform that helps speed the delivery of existing and new mobile applications
to multiple devices. It also helps enable secure connections between smartphone
and tablet applications with enterprise IT systems.
According
to an IBM study, 75 percent of respondents identified mobility solutions as one
of their top spending priorities.
“Our
clients are under increased pressure to meet the growing demands of a workforce
and customer base that now treat mobility as mission critical to their
business. With the acquisition of Worklight, IBM is well-positioned to help
clients become smarter mobile enterprises reaching new markets,” said
Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM application and infrastructure middleware.
Worklight
accelerates IBM’s mobile portfolio. IBM has been investing in this space
for more than a decade, both organically and through acquisitions.
Currently,
the world’s top 20 communications service providers use IBM technology to run
their applications, while every day more than one billion mobile phone
subscribers are touched by IBM software.
“In
the last year, we have seen surging demand from enterprises for mobility
solutions that will support the unique set of challenges introduced by new
smartphone and tablet platforms,” said Shahar Kaminitz, CEO and founder,
Worklight.
Worklight
supports consumer and employee-facing applications in industries including
financial services, retail and healthcare. For example, a bank can create a
single application that offers features to enable its customers to securely
connect to their account, pay bills and manage their investments, regardless of
the device they are using. Similarly, a hospital could use Worklight technology
to extend its existing IT system to allow direct input of health history,
allergies, and prescriptions by a patient using a tablet.