IBM Exec Offers Inside Look at Smarter Commerce Acquisitions

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In its latest bet to forward its Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM snapped up Emptoris. The company bolsters the procurement and supply chain operations side of Big Blue’s analytics business.

Emptoris is the second cloud analytics acquisition IBM has made in as many weeks. Big Blue bought DemandTec last week.

The back-to-back deals demonstrate IBM’s commitment to Smarter Commerce, which the company has pegged as a $20 billion market opportunity in software alone. Smarter Commerce aims to help organizations that are struggling to meet the demands of rapidly shifting buying patterns in the era of mobile and social networks.

“If you remember the four P’s — product, price, promotion and placement — Emptoris fits on the product side to manage the supply network and source products very efficiently,” said Craig Hayman, general manager of Industry Solutions at IBM. “With Emptoris, you can put out a bid for laptops, for example, and have suppliers compete for that business. That often leads to better quality or better terms and conditions, and you can do it very rapidly.”

Delivering Value

With more than 350 customers in 75 countries, Emptoris has global clients that span multiple industries, including consumer products, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, chemical, oil and gas, utilities, construction and industrial manufacturing.

“Procurement is being asked to show how it can deliver value to the organization,” Hayman said. “Adding Emptoris strengthens the comprehensive capabilities we deliver and enables IBM to meet the specific needs of chief procurement officers.”

Emptoris’ spend-management solutions complement the existing B2B integration and supply chain management capabilities IBM acquired through the purchase of Sterling Commerce in 2010. The Emptoris acquisition will allow IBM to deliver more solutions focused on the needs of sourcing and procurement professionals.

Rounding Out the Four P’s

Hayman said IBM’s acquisition of DemandTec last week fills the pricing aspect of the four Ps. DemandTec…

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Tags: acquisitions, Commerce, exec, Inside, look, Offers, smarter

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