IBM to Acquire File Transfer Company Aspera as Part of Big Data and Cloud Computing Strategy

Furthering its position in the Big Data and cloud computing space, IBM has announced an agreement to acquire file transfer specialist Aspera, Inc. The California company provides technology for the secure and speedy transfer of massive data files throughout the world.

Aspera’s high-speed transfer technology may be used on premises or in the cloud, making it an ideal fit for IBM’s cloud computing initiatives. The company has had a number of global cloud announcements just in the past week, making in-roads in China, Europe and Brazil.

"Our experience working with thousands of clients on Big Data projects tells us that companies can better compete and win when they can quickly extract value from massive volumes of data," said John Mesberg, vice president, B2B and commerce solutions, IBM. "With this acquisition, IBM addresses a key challenge for globally integrated enterprises by allowing them to move large data files much faster to the individuals who need them, wherever in the world they may be."

The acquisition combines Aspera’s technology with IBM’s cloud computing initiatives, giving partners and customers a simple way to move big data files to and from the cloud. The combined solution is an ideal fit for enterprise storage backup, sharing digital images or bursting to the cloud for increased computing capacity. IBM plans to integrate the Aspera technology with its recently acquired SoftLayer cloud infrastructure next year.

Over the past month, IBM has announced massive cloud computing deals in China working with energy distributor ENN Energy and data center service provider 21Vianet. IBM also helped Brazilian service provider Alelo migrate to a cloud data center and is working with several major institutions in the European financial sector on cloud infrastructure and managed services.

Aspera’s technology reduces transmission times for large files and data sets by up to 99.9 percent, according to the company. The solution is based on the patented fasp technology, which overcomes bottlenecks in broadband WANs that could slow file transfer over distances, like high-definition video or scientific research files. That makes the technology a good fit for life sciences organizations, media companies, gaming companies and individuals trying to share and synchronize large files over a distance among multiple devices.

"Our team has redefined how the world's biggest data can be moved quickly, securely and reliably around the world," said Michelle Munson, president and co-founder, Aspera. "By tapping into IBM's innovative capabilities and global resources, we will solve ever expanding data movement challenges for our customers now and in the future."