With digital transformations occurring at an unprecedented pace, businesses are witnessing the expansion of IT environments across public and private clouds, often involving multiple service providers. To navigate this complex landscape, organizations have increasingly turned to Apptio’s solutions, which offer integrated and simplified visibility into technology spending across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, as well as labor and associated resources. By combining Apptio’s expertise with IBM’s IT automation software and watsonx AI platform, companies worldwide will gain the ability to effectively manage and optimize their enterprise IT spend, driving tangible financial value and operational improvement.
Apptio has established itself as a profitable leader in technology business management and FinOps, boasting over 1,500 clients, including more than half of the Fortune 100. The company has built strong partnerships and integrations with industry giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Oracle, and SAP, aligning with IBM’s commitment to an open partner ecosystem.
Apptio equips enterprise leaders with the tools to manage technology spend and direct investments toward high-value cloud innovation and digital transformation. The company’s core offerings, delivered as software as a service (SaaS), include ApptioOne, Apptio Cloudability, and Apptio Targetprocess:
ApptioOne: Offers hybrid cloud spend management and optimization capabilities for analyzing, optimizing, and planning IT spend and value. ApptioOne enables repeatable and accurate planning and financial management processes, delivering actionable insights regarding cost and utilization, while facilitating continuous optimization through benchmarking against industry peers.
Apptio Cloudability: Provides visibility and optimization capabilities for managing public cloud spend, connecting multi-cloud and SaaS infrastructure with cloud financial management best practices to maximize clients’ cloud strategy.
Apptio Targetprocess: Delivers agile investment planning capabilities to align development resources with business outcomes, enabling effective planning and tracking of value delivery for projects or products.
Arvind Krishna, CEO and Chairman of IBM, emphasized the need to optimize investments to derive better business value in the rapidly evolving technological landscape. He stated, “Apptio’s offerings combined with IBM’s IT automation software and watsonx AI platform give clients the most comprehensive approach to optimize and manage all of their technology investments.”
The acquisition of Apptio aligns with IBM’s strong focus on hybrid cloud and AI, and is expected to generate significant synergies across various key growth areas, including automation, Red Hat, IBM’s broader AI portfolio, and IBM Consulting. Moreover, it will strengthen IBM’s collaboration with leading systems integrators such as Accenture, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY. By integrating Apptio’s anonymized FinOps data, IBM will augment watsonx with new insights, further driving innovation.
Sunny Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of Apptio, expressed excitement about joining IBM, stating, “We are so excited to be joining IBM and combining our industry-leading offerings with IBM’s global presence and strong portfolio across AIOps, automation, and hybrid cloud offerings.” The acquisition will enable Apptio to leverage IBM’s extensive scale and reach, collaborating with clients and partners across over 175 countries.
Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, emphasized the success of Apptio’s transformation in optimizing IT spend and performance for leading organizations. He expressed pride in the shared accomplishments and the potential for further evolution of Apptio under IBM’s ownership.
The acquisition of Apptio will be funded using IBM’s available cash reserves. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, with completion expected in the latter half of 2023.
Increase in Chance of Vendor Acquisition:
IBM’s acquisition of Apptio Inc. and its leadership in ITAM and FinOps may lead to increased speculation about the acquisition of other vendors with FinOps and ITAM expertise, such as Flexera. The market recognizes the value and importance of these companies in providing actionable financial and operational insights across enterprise IT, and industry players may seek to acquire such vendors to strengthen their capabilities in this space.
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