IBM to buy FilesX for data protection software

by Chris Kanaracus

April 10, 2008 —

IBM has signed an agreement to
buy FilesX, a storage software
company in Haifa, Israel, and Newton, Massachusetts, it announced Thursday. Terms
of the deal, which IBM said will close shortly, were not disclosed.

FilesX's technology centers on continuous data protection and "nearly
instant" data and application recovery for enterprises and branch offices
running Windows environments.

Following the sale's close, FilesX's software will become part of IBM's Tivoli
Storage Manager product line and be complementary to Tivoli Continuous Data
Protection for Files, which IBM aims at SMBs and individuals, IBM said.

The acquisition will "reinforce IBM's mid-market strategy by adding a
simple and easy to use full data protection solution -- one that also is attractive
to enterprise remote offices and departmental situations," said Al Zollar,
general manager of Tivoli software, in a statement.

The purchase also appears to tie into IBM's ongoing Information on Demand push,
which has seen the company pull together a flock of data management, access
and analysis software in part through a relentless series of acquisitions.

FilesX has more than 100 customers in the U.S. and Israel, according to IBM.

IDG News Service