IBM (NYSE: IBM) has disclosed plans to acquire New York-based Bluewolf Group- one of Salesforce’s top partners and a globally recognized leader in cloud consulting and implementation services. Financial details were not disclosed.
IBM says Upon completion of this transaction, Bluewolf will join IBM Global Business Services and the design, analytics, and mobile capabilities of IBM Interactive Experience (iX) to form a deeper consulting capability for clients adopting the innovative Salesforce solutions that transform relationships with their customers.
IBM iX is a next-generation hybrid consultancy and digital agency dedicated to creating experiences that connect data with design and develop personalized customer experiences.
IBM believes that iX’s deep proficiency in experience design and data integration, combined with the cloud consulting and implementation capabilities of Bluewolf, will uniquely position IBM for both midmarket and enterprise clients in the Salesforce professional services industry, projected at $111 billion.
Bluewolf is one of Salesforce’s longest standing consulting partners, with 12 global offices and more than 500 employees in the United States, Europe and Australia. Bluewolf is consistently recognized by market analysts as a worldwide leader in the Salesforce implementation ecosystem, including in The IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Salesforce.com Implementation Ecosystem 2015 Vendor Assessment. Bluewolf has also delivered more than 9,500 successful Salesforce projects for clients including Stanley Black & Decker, Sapa Building Systems and Vodafone Hutchinson Australia.
IBM points out that businesses are evolving to meet rising consumer expectations for sophisticated experiences. Eighty one percent of C-suite leaders anticipate more digital and virtual engagement by 2020 and 66 percent anticipate a stronger focus on customers as individuals. To deliver, companies are transitioning from legacy CRM platforms to cloud-based solutions that enable the agility and innovation required.
Upon close of the transaction, as part of IBM iX, Bluewolf will continue to develop solutions around Salesforce industry implementations, with a strong foundation based on Bluewolf’s library of industry-specific assets, accelerators and mutual expertise in the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, public sector and new media industries, among others.
The planned acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016 and is subject to applicable regulatory review and customary closing conditions.
http://www.bluewolf.com/
