IBM acquires mobile messaging tool provider

Tech giant IBM has acquired cloud based mobile messaging tools provider Xtify. The push comunications specialist claims to help organisations improve mobile sales, drive in-store traffic and engage customers with personalised offers.

IBM said that the acquisition will help it to extend its mobile capabilities to digital marketers across all industries. Xtify will expand IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative providing campaign creation, personalised content, dynamic real-time segmentation and analytics for all mobile devices and browsers, the vendor said.

Xtify’s technology is designed to help enterprises engage, convert and retain mobile application users and site visitors. The firm’s cloud-based campaign management platform notifies mobile consumers when new content and promotions are available. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The premise is simple: mobile content and promotional offers are far more useful when delivered directly to consumers at the right time. Relevant and actionable offers are key to mobile marketing success,” said Xtify CEO Josh Rochlin.

He added that the firm’s mobile messaging capability combined with IBM’s analytics and cloud infrastructure will provide marketers with global reach and “an arsenal of rich content to influence and inform increasingly mobile consumers”.

The acquisition of a telecoms solutions provider is IBM’s second such announcement this week. On Tuesday it announced that it reached a definitive agreement to acquire Dublin-based analytics software provider The Now Factory.

IBM will take ownership of The Now Factory for an undisclosed sum, joining the company’s Software Group. The Now Factory’s service offers communications service providers analytics based on real-time mobile usage, giving telcos and similar service providers visibility into how mobile services are being used so networks can be optimised accordingly.

IBM added that Xtify is among the most recent investments that IBM plans to run on its SoftLayer cloud infrastructure, which operates in 140 countries. IBM has invested more than $6bn in cloud-related acquisitions, including SoftLayer.

“With the increase of mobile devices, organisations across all industries are anxious to develop a mobile approach to engage their customers,” said Kevin Bishop, IBM vice president for digital marketing. “The acquisition of Xtify provides new ways for our clients to foster a direct, one-to-one communication channel with their customers.”