An overview of the week in deals in the Irish technology sector.
Salesforce.com acquires Heroku for US$212m cash
Salesforce.com has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Heroku, a cloud application platform for writing Ruby-based applications, for about US$212m.
The cash transaction will see start-up Heroku continue providing support for the next generation of Java and Ruby app developers and is expected to be completed in Salesforce.com‘s fiscal fourth quarter ending 31 January 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. Java and Ruby are the leading development languages used to write next-generation social and mobile applications.
The acquisition means Salesforce.com will gain the leading application PaaS for developers working in Ruby, as well as the team and access to the rapidly expanding community of Ruby developers.
Cisco and BMC forge strategic cloud alliance
Networking giant Cisco and business software player BMC have forged a strategic alliance to develop and sell new solutions for large scale multi-tenant cloud computing infrastructures.
Under the alliance, the two companies are aligning product development road maps and technology architectures to offer worldwide customers a complete suite of solutions that simplify and automate the delivery of cloud services.
As part of the alliance, Cisco and BMC announced the availability of a new cloud solution, the Integrated Cloud Delivery Platform, that is designed to meet the requirements of service providers and large-scale private cloud computing environments.
This new joint solution helps cloud providers easily deploy end-to-end cloud services running on a cloud computing infrastructure that spans data centre networks, computing systems, storage and applications.
Just Mobile strikes deal with BBC Dragon’s mobile distributor
Data Select, the handset distributor owned by BBC Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Peter Jones CBE, has forged a partnership with new Irish MVNO Just Mobile to distribute handsets in Ireland.
The partnership is Data Select’s first entry into the Irish market and creates employment at a fulfilment centre in Finglas.
Exclusive handsets from the range of phones and smartphones in the Just Mobile range are available for purchase in participating Spar, Spar Express, EuroSpar, Mace and XL stores nationwide or on the Just Mobile website.
“I am personally delighted that Just Mobile has chosen Data Select as its launch partner,” Peter Jones commented. “Data Select offers a wide range of quality mobile products and services, including exclusive models that will help Just Mobile to differentiate itself in the Irish market.”
