IBM has acquired CIMS Lab, a leading provider of
software that helps businesses track the use of computing resources
across virtualised technology environments.
CIMS track IT usage in servers, storage systems, e-mail,
networks, databases, applications and operating systems.
The software gathers raw data about IT resource use and converts
it into organised financial information.
This helps companies to understand how their technology
resources are being consumed across a virtualised infrastructure
consisting of many platforms and systems.
An accurate view of software and hardware use helps
organisations to determine what usage costs, and how much
departments should be charged for it.
For instance, a bank may have several different businesses –
commercial loans, mortgages and retail banking – that share
software applications and storage devices.
CIMS Lab’s software provides information that helps the bank to
determine how much usage should be billed back to each department,
which helps to better allocate future IT spending.
Businesses deploying a service oriented architecture can also
use CIMS Lab’s software to track and bill for IT usage across a
web-based, open IT infrastructure.
The CIMS business, which has been acquired for an undisclosed
sum, will be incorporated into IBM’s Tivoli Software business,
which specialises in portfolio management software.
Analyst IDC estimates that spending on IT virtualisation will
grow to nearly $15bn worldwide by 2009, with more than
three-quarters of all companies with 500-plus employees deploying
virtual servers.
IDC said it expects that 45% of all new servers purchased in
2007 will have virtualisation capabilities.