IBM snaps up Algorithmics

risk analysis software for the financial industry, to help customers meet regulators' data oversight demands, reports ZDnet.

IBM has agreed to acquire the Toronto-based software company for $387 million. Under the deal, all of Algorithmics' 900 employees at its 23 worldwide locations will join IBM's global software group.

EE Times India indicates Algorithmics' risk analytics software, content and advisory services are used by banks, investment and insurance businesses to help assess risk, address regulatory requirements and make more insightful business decisions.

Through the acquisition, Algorithmics' risk analytics software and services, together with technologies IBM acquired from OpenPages and its recent investments in predictive analytics, will provide clients with a broad range of business analytics solutions.

Laurence Trigwell, IBM's head of business analytics for financial services, says there is significant demand from banks, financial markets and insurance firms for analytical insight, both to improve performance and comply with increased regulation.

“We see risk analytics as a critical component of analytical insight, driven by market factors and events over the last 10 years since Basel II and over the last three or four years since the financial crisis,” he told Reuters.