Roundup: IBM, Dell, Akamai

Here’s our review of some of this week’s noteworthy links for the data center industry:

IBM acquires Vivisimo.  IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire Vivisimo, a leading provider of federated discovery and navigation software that helps organizations access and analyze big data across the enterprise. With a single view across the enterprise Vivisimo software automates the discovery of data and helps employees navigate it. The combination of IBM's big data analytics capabilities with Vivisimo software will further IBM's efforts to automate the flow of data into business analytics applications, helping clients better understand consumer behavior, manage customer churn and network performance, detect fraud in real-time, and perform data-intensive marketing campaigns. Upon the closing of the acquisition, approximately 120 Vivisimo employees will join IBM's Software Group. "Navigating big data to uncover the right information is a key challenge for all industries," said Arvind Krishna, general manager, Information Management, IBM Software Group. "The winners in the era of big data will be those who unlock their information assets to drive innovation, make real-time decisions, and gain actionable insights to be more competitive."

Dell and Internet2 partner for collaborative research. Dell announced it is working with Clemson University to provide more Internet2 institutions and organizations access to high performance research computing technology. Dell and Internet2’s NET+ Services program will provide high performance computing solutions and services that support the next generation of collaborative research through Dell private cloud services, Dell's Cloud with VMware vCloud Datacenter service, and Dell Virtual Desktop as a Service. In a parallel effort, Janet, the United Kingdom’s research and education network, has chosen Dell as a leading supplier of cloud and data center services for its new dedicated procurement framework. “The US invests 2.68 percent of its GDP on publicly-funded research and development and is second only to Japan in research and development investment," said John Mullen, vice president and general manager for education, state and local government, Dell.  "It is clear that academic communities and research institutions are helping to lead these efforts and drive innovation. Dell is pleased to offer its industry leading solutions including cloud and virtualization services and continuing our partnership with the Internet2 community to even further enable the next generation of discovery.”

Akamai CEO announces succession plan.  Akamai Technologies (AKAM) announced today that President and CEO Paul Sagan plans to transition out of his role by the end of 2013. Sagan has committed to continue leading the Company until his successor is named, and he intends to remain directly involved with Akamai thereafter to ensure a successful leadership transition. "The Board is committed to conducting a thorough search to identify the right candidate with direct experience in building multi-billion dollar, cloud-based businesses to serve as Akamai's next CEO," said Martin M. Coyne II, Akamai's Lead Independent Director. "Paul will not be an easy executive to replace, and on behalf of the Board and everyone at Akamai, I would like to thank him for his past and continuing leadership as President and CEO and his remarkable dedication to Akamai for nearly 15 years."