March 21, 2013

Oracle extends cloud offering by acquiring Nimbula

Oracle recently acquired Nimbula, a provider of cloud infrastructure management software.

An eWeek article explained that Nimbula's IT offerings can help businesses manage their resources so they can provide quality service, maintain availability and streamline workloads in private and hybrid cloud environments.

Oracle said in an announcement that Nimbula's product complements its current offerings. The transaction details were not released but the deal is expected to close by the first half of 2013.

Chris Pinkham, who managed the development of Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), co-founded Nimbula. The California-based company also has expertise with the OpenStack cloud software stack. According to eWeek, Nimbula is unique with its open-source-based Nimbula Director engine, which it positions as a "cloud operating system."

"This software packs loads of functionality into a single console that manages the functions of a public cloud, including provisioning, change management, tracking and chargeback (to various departments inside an enterprise) of cloud workloads," the news source said.

Whether technology companies create innovative systems with the sole purpose of being acquired or not, it is essential for business owners to understand that the M&A process requires more than just being chosen by an organization. Finding mutual ground is easier when both parties have compatible business strategies, but it is important for company heads to stay focused.

Technology mergers and acquisitions are becoming more common as more customers are relying on mobile devices and the ability to connect over the internet. A key step for ensuring that the company getting acquired does not have its bottom line pushed to the wayside is by having proper business valuation resources in place. That way, owners will know that their technology or software will be aiding a larger company while not being completely forgotten.