IBM to Strengthen Analytics Capabilities through Initiate Systems Acquisition
February 6, 2010
Entering into the 30th acquisition under its information and analytics strategy, IBM Corporation has signed an agreement with Initiate Systems, to acquire the data integrity software provider for an undisclosed amount. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance. Initiate Systems will operate with IBM’s Information Management business, following the expected closing of the agreement during the 1Q 2010. Initiate’s technology assets are anticipated to fortify IBM’s offerings for the healthcare and government clients.
Chicago, IL-based Initiate Systems, a privately held company with above 15 years of experience in health IT, supports data sharing among government and healthcare enterprises. The company caters to above 1,700 healthcare sites through its Initiate® software. Initiate’s portfolio includes solutions and services for payer information management, health information exchanges, provider data management, and electronic medical record (EMR) management. Also included in the company’s healthcare offerings is the integration platform, Accenx Exchange™, acquired from Accenx Technologies Inc. in 2009. The platform helps enterprises share health information across a wide area.
The vendor earned the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) Implementer title, by qualifying in the HITSP test at the 2009 Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Connectathon™ event, considered the industry’s largest interoperability testing event. In an attempt to strengthen its health information exchange capabilities, during the same year, the company partnered with Axolotl Corporation to integrate its patient identification solution with Axolotl’s award-winning Elysium® Exchange solution.
General Manager of IBM’s Information Management business, Arvind Krishna says that by adding Initiate’s software and its industry expertise, IBM will be able to deliver an end-to-end solution for information exchange required for effectively enhancing patient care at lower costs. He further states that in the same way, for the government clients, the acquisition will help IBM deliver solutions with enhanced capabilities for collecting information and using them to efficiently serve citizens in a timely manner.
The quest for improving healthcare and services for citizens, has long since been a priority of healthcare organizations and governments across the world. In the healthcare arena, providers are continuously looking for means to enhance care outcomes and efficiency. Government sector consumers are expressing the need for ways to support a cost effective model that can deliver better services for citizens, by integrating data from many agencies like veterans’ programs and child welfare.
The current buyout by IBM is aimed at cashing-in on such demands from the healthcare and government clients. By leveraging Initiate’s technology expertise, IBM intends to expand its Cognos and InfoSphere software for integrating and assessing data, and its business analytics and optimization consulting organization’s offerings. ‘Big Blue’, on an acquisition spree, has made several similar investments to enhance its analytical capabilities.
With a strategic intent to make use of the emerging scope in analytics and optimization, IBM launched its global Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting centers in 2009. The venture, which is included in a total investment of above $10 billion in acquisitions and organic growth, is supported by a team of 4,000 consultants and comprises of a network of analytics solution centers, operating from New York City, Washington D.C., London, Tokyo, and Beijing.
Further building on its analytics strategy, IBM, launched the Global Healthcare Centre of Excellence at La Gaude, France, in the same year, to enable its healthcare clients to design and develop life sciences and healthcare solutions for improving the delivery of care, preventing and predicting diseases, and enabling better health and wellness. The Center, with focus on healthcare analytics, EMR and EHRs, business intelligence, complex solutions design, unified communications and identity management, will provide proof of concept and prototype demonstrations, architecture consultancy, integration of partner solutions, and experiential demonstrations.
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