IBM To Buy Tarian Software For Content Management Goods

Within a week of saying IBM is looking for acquisition candidates, the computing giant is buying Tarian Software, a maker of content management software.

Privately held Tarian, based in Ottawa, develops what it calls "eRecords" management software. The technology will be integrated into IBM's growing data management group, which fields the company's DB2 database and related products and its Content Manager offerings, IBM said in a statement Monday morning. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Last Wednesday , Palmisano told analysts and reporters that he expects to spend $2 billion to $3 billion a year in acquisitions in coming years.

IBM and its Software Group have been particularly aggressive of late. The latest version of the company's DB2 database will be priced to move in the SMB space, in yet another onslaught on database leader Oracle. A version of DB2 Version 8.1 for workgroups and medium businesses, will cost $7,500 per CPU vs. $14,000 for the current version, IBM said earlier this fall. (See related story.)

Version 8.1 is slated to ship Nov. 21. In addition, the company has unveiled aggressive credit and financing options for SMBs buying as little as $25,000 worth of its software.

Tarian's expertise will bulk up IBM's document life-cycle management capabilities, according to IBM.