IBM opts for AptSoft

IBM is buying AptSoft, a developer of business event processing software that helps organizations identify patterns and establish connections between events.

The role of event processing is becoming increasingly important because it enables businesses to proactively analyze and respond to minute market changes that can have significant business impact, IBM officials said.

First used to analyze Wall Street trades, business or complex event processing engines are being applied to other areas, such as intelligence and surveillance, battlefield command and control and network monitoring.

For instance, In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture-capital arm and technology incubator, made a strategic investment last year in StreamBase Systems, a developer of CEP technology.

AptSoft will strengthen IBM's service-oriented architecture portfolio, company officials said. AptSoft's software will complement IBM's existing SOA software and related services offerings that span the WebSphere, Information Management and Tivoli brands as well as radio frequency identification, Web 2.0 capabilities and industry-specific solutions, they said.

"AptSoft enables customers to capture events as they happen with an intuitive user interface designed for business analysts," said Tom Rosamilia, general manager, IBM WebSphere software.

AptSoft technology will strengthen IBM's SOA and business process management offerings through its simple, intuitive interface and correlation capabilities, which are designed to be easily used by business analysts and information technology professionals, he said.

"As SOA continues to evolve, companies are linking event processing and BPM to gain deeper insight into the transactions and events that shape their business and industries as a whole," said Frank Chisholm, former chief executive officer and founder of AptSoft.

AptSoft products will become part of the IBM Software Group WebSphere software brand. Financial details were not disclosed.

IBM of Armonk, N.Y.ranks No. 18 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.

Rutrell Yasin writes for Government Computer News, an 1105 Government Information Group publication.