Acquisitions And Buyouts That Changed The Industry Landscape

Acquisitions are a regular occurrence in the IT industry and 2013 certainly had its share. Some IT vendors like Cisco and IBM were as active as ever on the acquisition front while others, notably Oracle, spent less time shopping this year than in recent years.

There were a number of blockbuster multibillion-dollar deals in 2013 that have the potential to remake segments of the industry. But this list isn't based solely on the dollar-amounts of the deals. Some acquisitions are on our list because their potential impact on the industry and the channel outweighed their price tags.

The list also includes one acquisition that just never happened.