IBM has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lombardi, a privately held software company based in Austin, Texas.

Lombardi is a Business Process Management (BPM) software and services provider. The acquisition will help IBM strengthen its product planning, supply chain execution, insurance application and claims management, human resources, IT services and procurement automation software services portfolio.

According to IDC, the market opportunity for BPM software will increase at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 15 percent over the next four years, from $1.7B in 2009 to $3.0B by 2013. [1]

Lombardi's department-level approach to delivering process management complements IBM's existing strengths in enterprise-wide process management software. IBM will now be able to offer an end-to-end, integrated solution.

"Any discussion on business improvement inevitably leads to improving the processes that are at the heart of every company," said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Application and Integration Middleware. "Recognizing this, IBM has strengthened its presence and investments in business process and integration software to meet these growing client demands. Lombardi fills out our company's portfolio in this key area."

One of the earliest supporters of WebSphere, Lombardi brings capabilities that complement the recent product upgrades and new product announcements in IBM's WebSphere portfolio.

"IBM has been a long-standing partner in addressing the core business needs of customers across a wide range of industries," said Rod Favaron, CEO, Lombardi. "Our shared vision has been to deliver technology that helps companies improve their effectiveness by better managing the processes that keep their businesses running. Becoming part of the IBM family will take this vision to a higher level and enable us to explore new opportunities together in product development, integration and go-to-market strategies."

Lombardi has strong customer relationships in the financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications industries that will complement IBM's existing customer base

Existing IBM and Lombardi technologies will be preserved even after the acquisition, company said in the statement.

IBM's plans to builds on recent BPM acquisitions such as ILOG, by this acquisition in the space of service oriented architecture (SOA) and BPM. With an SOA community of more than 8,000 clients and 7,400 Business Partners, and a BPM community of 5,000 clients and 2,500 Business Partners, IBM certainly doesn't want to miss on the opertunities.

Acquisition will be completed and Lombardi integrated into IBM following regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.