Thaindian News

ARMONK, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) – IBM announced on Monday that it has acquired Sterling Commerce from AT&T.

The approximate $1.4 billion cash agreement between the two companies will expand IBM’s ability to help organizations create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating the way they connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models.

Sterling Commerce is a Dublin, Ohio-based company that provides business-to-business solutions, which enables information to be shared among people, business systems, and enterprise systems. IBM’s products will complement from Sterling Commerce’s, integrating key business processes through the entire cross-channel solution lifecycle – from marketing and selling to order management and fulfillment.

Clients will also be able to manage their networks of business partners through public or private cloud computing environments, as over 18,000 global customers use Sterling Commerce offerings.

Consistent with its software strategy, IBM plans to continue to support Sterling Commerce clients and enhance Sterling Commerce technologies while allowing these organizations to take advantage of the broader IBM portfolio. Following the close of the acquisition, approximately 2,500 Sterling Commerce employees will be integrated into the WebSphere organization within IBM’s Software Group.

Sterling Commerce enables more than 1 billion business interactions a year for clients in the financial services, retail, manufacturing, communications and distribution industries. The growth of electronic business transactions, from banks exchanging transaction data and manufacturers sourcing raw materials electronically, to retailers automating stock replenishment and managing orders online is an important area for IBM.

“Businesses today are operating in a highly competitive global environment in which lines between actions taking place within and outside an organization’s four walls are blurring,” said Craig Hayman, general manager, WebSphere, IBM. “This acquisition will give IBM new tools to help clients build dynamic business networks that connect partners, suppliers and clients and deliver a consistent customer experience across channels. In addition, the fact that much of this can be done in the cloud will make it compelling to large numbers of our customers.”

“The broad global reach and additional capabilities IBM offers make this acquisition great news for our customers and partners,” said Bob Irwin, chief executive officer, Sterling Commerce. “The combination of IBM’s products, services and skills with the Sterling Commerce B2B integration and cross-channel capabilities resulting from this acquisition is unparalleled.”

IBM and AT&T expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. AT&T expects to record a one-time pretax gain of approximately $750 million in the quarter in which the transaction closes.