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IBM Acquires Data Observability Software Company Databand.ai

BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 26:  A logo sits illumintated outside the IBM booth on day 2 of the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2019 on February 26, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the world’s largest communications companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and wearables gadgets like foldable...

IBM has acquired Databand.ai, a provider of data observability software that helps organizations fix issues and errors with their data. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal numbers 599 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022.

IBM has acquired more than 25 companies since Arvind Krishna became CEO in April 2020, the company indicated.

IBM Channel Partners, MSPs Gain Data Quality Tools

Databand.ai, founded in 2018, is based in Tel Aviv, Israel and has offices in New York. The company has 51 employees listed on LinkedIn. Those employees will join the IBM Data and AI group, the buyer indicated.

Databand.ai previously was venture-backed, having raised a $14.5 million Series A round in 2020. Key investors in that round included Accel, Blumberg Capital, Lerer Hippeau, Ubiquity Ventures, Differential Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Databand.ai's observability software allows data teams and engineers to "better understand the health of data in their system and automatically identify, troubleshoot and resolve issues, like anomalies, breaking data changes or pipeline failures, in near real-time," IBM asserted.

Databand.ai software aligns with such offerings as IBM Observability by Instana APM and IBM Watson Studio, the buyer indicated.

Although Databand.ai's website did not emphasize channel partnerships, IBM's own Data and AI group continues to promote partnerships.

IBM Acquires Databand.ai: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the deal, Daniel Hernandez, general manager for data and AI, IBM, said:

"Our clients are data-driven enterprises who rely on high-quality, trustworthy data to power their mission-critical processes. When they don't have access to the data they need in any given moment, their business can grind to a halt. With the addition of Databand.ai, IBM offers the most comprehensive set of observability capabilities for IT across applications, data and machine learning, and is continuing to provide our clients and partners with the technology they need to deliver trustworthy data and AI at scale."

Added Josh Benamram, co-founder and CEO of Databand.ai:

"You can't protect what you can't see, and when the data platform is ineffective, everyone is impacted –including customers. That's why global brands such as FanDuel, Agoda and Trax Retail already rely on Databand.ai to remove bad data surprises by detecting and resolving them before they create costly business impacts. Joining IBM will help us scale our software and significantly accelerate our ability to meet the evolving needs of enterprise clients."

Recent IBM M&A Strategy: Tuck-in Acquisitions

Most of IBM’s recent acquisitions have been small tuck-in deals rather than lofty, high-price SaaS business purchases. The result: IBM will increasingly compete against global IT consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the like, ChannelE2E believes.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.