IBM to Buy Solid

HELSINKI and ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Solid Information Technology, a privately held company based in Cupertino, California, and Helsinki, Finland, that provides in-memory database software. Financial details were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Solid Information Technology supports IBM's global Information on Demand strategy by adding real-time data access capabilities to the company's broad portfolio of database and information management offerings. Solid Information Technology's software uses in-memory database technology to quickly retrieve data from a computer's memory (or RAM). Using this technology, businesses can access and store data at speeds up to ten times faster than using traditional disk-based database systems. Additionally, Solid Information Technology's database server can recover from system failure within milliseconds, providing nearly uninterrupted (99.999%) data availability. The software maximizes use of system resources while requiring almost no hands-on administration, resulting in much lower total cost of ownership.

Solid Information Technology is the twelfth strategic acquisition announced by IBM in 2007. IBM's acquisition of Solid Information Technology supports the company's growth strategy and capital allocation model, and it is expected to contribute to the achievement of the company's objective for earnings-per-share growth through 2010. Additionally, Solid Information Technology will augment the company's software business, which currently provides 20 percent of total sales and 40 percent of IBM's profit.

Hundreds of customers use Solid Information Technology software in over three million deployments worldwide where high speed and high availability are critical to their success. The software supports many consumer applications and services in telecommunications, retail, finance, healthcare, and other industries by allowing nearly instantaneous access to data for mobile phones, Internet-based calling, online shopping, stock and investment transactions, and other applications. The combination of IBM and Solid Information Technology software will provide the technology and resources to broaden the opportunity for Solid Information Technology software.

IBM plans to integrate Solid Information Technology's product offerings into IBM's Software Group as part of its Information Management Software division. Solid Information Technology's software complements IBM's portfolio by combining the speed and versatility of in-memory database technology with the enterprise-wide scalability and persistence of IBM's disk-based data server offerings -- DB2 and Informix Dynamic Server. This combination will provide customers with real-time access to the information they need in order to quickly respond to changing demands, rapidly capitalize on new business opportunities, and improve business results."Customer demand for high speed, low-latency, reliable access to business information is growing exponentially as organizations of all sizes strive to ensure real-time access to enterprise data," said Ambuj Goyal, general manager, IBM Information Management. "Together, IBM and Solid Information Technology will provide a comprehensive set of capabilities that enable companies to deliver trusted information in real-time to every person and every business transaction."

IBM Corp.