IBM buys Netezza for £1.1bn to expand business analytics

IBM is to acquire data warehouse appliance provider Netezza for $1.7bn (£1.1bn) to provide IBM customers with increased performance and faster insights into business information.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2010 and is subject to Netezza shareholder approval. IBM plans to integrate Netezza into its portfolio of information management software.

"IBM is bringing analytics to the masses. It's no longer just the CIO - every single department from finance to marketing professionals is tapping into the capabilities of analytics to draw meaningful insights," said Arvind Krishna, general manager, information management at IBM.

"The addition of Netezza will reinforce IBM's focus in understanding clients' needs by providing them a broader set of analytics capabilities and bringing the power of analytics right into the hands of business users at every level within an organisation," added Krishna.

According to IBM, it has invested more than $12bn (£7.7bn) in 23 analytics-related acquisitions since 2006.