IBM has acquired mobile application platform and tools provider Worklight, a move to offer its enterprise clients an open platform to accelerate the delivery of new and existing mobile apps targeting both consumers and in-house employees. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close during the current quarter, with Worklight sitting within IBM's Software Group.
The Worklight platform leverages the PhoneGap framework to bridge web technologies and native OS functions, enabling developers and organizations to build, run and manage native, hybrid and HTML5 applications spanning operating systems including Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone. The platform includes the Worklight Studio, an Eclipse-based IDE enabling developers to perform all coding and integration tasks necessary to creating a fully operational application, as well as the Java-based Worklight Server, which facilitates secure connectivity, multi-source data extraction and manipulation, authentication, analytics and operational management functions. Worklight additionally offers a web-based console to monitor and administrate apps, adapters and push notifications.
With the addition of Worklight, IBM can offer a complete portfolio of mobile software and services, including management and security solutions tailored for bring-your-own-device environments. According to a recent IBM survey, 75 percent of CIOs worldwide identified mobility solutions among their top spending priorities.
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