IBM Will Be The Most Aggressive Buyer Of Apps

IBM has been a regular buyer of software vendors over the years, with a tendency to keep those software products as distinct and separately supported product lines. IBM's acquisition of Cognos both continues this pattern and takes it in new directions. IBM's assertion that it does not do application software is looking increasingly porous, with recent acquisitions of MRO Software, FileNet, and Cognos moving it to the fringe of apps, if not actually into apps. With platform competitors increasingly swallowing up independent software vendors (ISVs), IBM will have less compunction about and more imperatives for becoming an app vendor itself. IBM will continue its pattern of retaining separate brands for the products it acquires, so that it can continue to provide middleware platforms for other vendors' applications.