IBM yesterday announced it has acquired Guardium, a provider of real-time enterprise database monitoring and protection solutions. Guardium's technology helps clients safeguard data, monitor database activity and reduce operational costs by automating regulatory compliance tasks. Guardium is a privately held company based in Waltham, Mass. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IBM said the acquisition of Guardium will enable its clients to maintain trusted information infrastructures by continuously monitoring access and activity to protect high-value databases against threats from legitimate users and potential hackers. It will also help clients streamline compliance processes for industry and government mandates with centralized and automated controls for all major platforms.

"Organizations are grappling with government mandates, industry standards and business demands to ensure that their critical data is protected against internal and external threats," states Arvind Krishna, general manager, IBM Information Management. "This acquisition is another significant step in our abilities to help clients govern and monitor their data, and ultimately make their information more secure throughout its lifecycle."

IBM also said the acquisition extends its business analytics strategy, including the range of offerings available through the company's recently-announced Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting organization with 4,000 consultants, a network of analytics solution centers, and an overall investment of more than $12 billion in organic growth and acquisitions.

IBM will integrate Guardium within IBM's Information Management Software portfolio. For more information about IBM Information Management, go here.