IBM bolsters cloud credentials with Cloudant purchase

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IBM has acquired database-as-a-service provider Cloudant

IBM has completed its acquisition of database-as-a-service (DBaaS) provider Cloudant. The purchase will further IBM's interests in big data and analytics, cloud computing and mobile. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Cloudant allows organisations to create web and mobile apps using data that is managed in the cloud. It provides developers with a JSON based service that can store large amounts of data for access from applications via an API.

The firm promises high levels of availability and is an active participant of the Apache CouchDB open source database community.

New generation

Cloudant CEO Derek Schoettle explained that the company's purchase by IBM was in line with the way in which modern software is built.

"A new generation of developers has grown up coding against web frameworks and cloud infrastructure," explained Schoettle. "When Cloudant launched in 2010, we knew this next wave of innovation would be a core market for our service. Now in 2014, we're seeing web development transition to the enterprise, and, as part of IBM, we couldn't be in a better spot."

IBM's vice president of Databases & Data Warehousing Sean Poulley said: "With the acquisition of Cloudant, IBM is helping to fuel a new era of next generation mobile and web apps built on the cloud. Boosting IBM's Big Data and Analytics, Cloud Computing and Mobile offerings, Cloudant's open, cloud database service will bring entirely new levels of simplicity and scalability to developers."

Cloudant was last month named a winner of IBM's Beacon Award for Best IBM SoftLayer-based Cloud Solution.