IBM Consulting acquires application business of OneAdvanced
Technology and business services firm IBM has acquired OneAdvanced’s application modernisation capabilities.
Founded in 2008 OneAdvanced has grown into of the UK’s largest providers of business software and services serving global customers with an annual turnover of £330 million. Its application modernisation business helps its clients build and enhance their tech applications.
In a statement, Big Blue has confirmed that the wing will become its first acquisition of 2024. The application modernisation business will become part of IBM Consulting – and rebrand as IBM ModernSystems.
John Granger, senior vice president of IBM Consulting, stated, “Acquiring application modernisation capabilities from OneAdvanced brings a combination of talent, tools and knowledge to enhance IBM Consulting’s mainframe application and data modernisation services. The planned acquisition will further enable us to support clients’ mainframe application modernization journeys, marking another important step forward in IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy.”
According to Granger, a recent IBM Institute for Business Value survey showed that 67% percent of executives surveyed say their organizations need to transform quickly to keep up with the competition, and 68% of respondents say mainframe systems are central to their hybrid cloud strategy. As such, digital transformation is not “an ‘either-or’ process of choosing between cloud or mainframe.”
He added, “A hybrid cloud approach that includes and integrates mainframe computing can drive up to five times the value of a public cloud platform alone. Yet, modernising mainframe code and data can be a complex process. In working with our clients, we’ve seen how the right IT services partners can help navigate and speed their transformation journeys, protect their vital investments, and reduce risks surrounding security, data gravity and costs.”
Looking ahead, the team joining IBM Consulting will work with global enterprise clients to modernise their mainframe applications and brings more than 30 years of experience, tools and expertise supporting clients’ mainframe strategies. The professionals are also equipped with industry expertise across the financial services, insurance, automotive, travel and transportation, government, utilities and media sectors.
This move will also support IBM’s shift into AI services – helping IBM watsonx Code Assistant for Z to deliver more comprehensive options for mainframe application modernisation across hardware, software and services. Watsonx Code Assistant for Z is a generative AI-assisted product built to help accelerate mainframe application modernization.
Granger concluded, “The capabilities IBM Consulting intends to acquire together with watsonx Code Assistant for Z aim to improve end-to-end application developer lifecycle, including application discovery and analysis; code refactoring; and code conversion, so applications can better integrate with an enterprise’s hybrid cloud architecture.”
Since Arvind Krishna became CEO in April 2020, IBM has acquired more than 35 companies, bolstering its hybrid cloud and AI capabilities.
