IBM Impact 2012: IBM acquires Tealeaf to boost mobile and web user experience

IBM Impact 2012 logo

Another day, another IBM acquisition. This time Big blue has snapped up user experience analytics firm Tealeaf Technology.

I'm confident that you will benefit from this announcement and the others as the Websphere platform continues to help you become an engaging enterprise.

The newly acquired company which boasts 30 of the Fortune 100 as customers - will provide business decision makers such as chief marketing officers and ecommerce experts with real-time insight into online and mobile user behaviour.

The deal, announced during the company's Impact conference today in Las Vegas, is expected to close during the second quarter, subject to getting the regulatory green light.

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed as yet.

Phenomenal growth is expected in both the online and mobile commerce spaces, with the markets reaching $1 trillion by 2014 and $200 million by 2015 respectively, according to research published this year by BuddeComm.

Ensuring users get the best experience regardless of what information they're trying to access or which device they're using has been a big focus during the Impact event. IBM has continually reinforced the message to delegates that data remains the lifeblood of their business, but that what they do with it and how accessible and useful they make it is more important now than ever.

"To further help you be able to extend, transact and optimise, I'm pleased to be able to announce this morning that we have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Tealeaf. Tealeaf is a leading provider of digital customer experience management and customer behaviour analysis solutions," said Beth Smith, vice president of Websphere for IBM's software group.

"This really complements Websphere customer experience and enterprise marketing management offerings giving you the ability to capture, replay, and analyse your customers' web and mobile interactions. It's all for an optimised online customer experience. I'm confident that you will benefit from this [announcement] and the others as the Websphere platform continues to help you become an engaging enterprise."

One the deal is closed, Tealeaf will become part of IBM's Enterprise Marketing and Management (EMM) group. The analytical capabilities gained as part of the acquisition will feed into IBM's Smart Commerce initiative, which the company has invested $3 billion in thus far.

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.