IBM Acquires Emptoris in “Smarter Commerce” Initiative

Big Blue announced today that it has acquired Emptoris in a further bid to fill out its growing catalog of business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce technologies. Emptoris is a privately held provider of cloud and on-premise analytics software that brings intelligence to procurement and supply chain operations with spend, supplier and contract management for “Smarter Commerce.”

Emptoris is backed by Marlin Equity, which acquired the company in 2008 after its original investors put the company up for auction in the face of several patent litigation troubles with Ariba and market headwinds. Emptoris has more than 725 employees and has revenues of approximately $100 million. Its blue chip client base of approximately 350 includes American Express, ADP, Kraft Foods and Samsung America, among others.

IBM has transformed its business in recent years thanks to a slew of acquisitions of software and services companies. Just last week, IBM announced spending $440 million to grab DemandTec, a software outfit that specializes in analyzing buyer behavior. IBM is describing the deal as the latest move to fill out its “smarter commerce” initiative, specifically on the “buy” side. Smarter Commerce is an IBM initiative which began earlier this year aimed at helping companies respond to shifting customer buying patterns – a market IBM estimates to be worth $20bn in software alone. Emptoris’ spend management solutions complement the existing B2B integration and supply chain management capabilities IBM acquired through the purchase of Sterling Commerce in 2010. The acquisition will also complement IBM’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) Business Process Outsourcing capabilities within its Global Process Services organization.