IBM announced it has acquired Intelliden Inc., a provider of intelligent network automation software that enables organizations to configure, manage and scale their networks. Intelliden, a privately held company, is based in Menlo Park, Calif. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Intelliden's value proposition is in helping enterprises to automate the configuration of thousands of manually managed network devices such as hubs, routers and switches from dozens of vendors, IBM says. Analysts estimate that more than 60 percent of network outages are caused by manual configuration errors. By acquiring this automation technology, IBM aims to help clients improve network service availability, decrease risk through compliance reporting and improve staff efficiency.

This acquisition is expected to strengthen the IBM service management portfolio by offering solutions for automation and optimization of digital and physical assets. This includes full-service lifecycle management of network devices, IT, data center and physical assets as diverse as water mains, railway cars and even door locks. "The typical company is managing a more complex and ever changing infrastructure-stretched across digital and physical assets," says Al Zollar, general manager of IBM Tivoli software. "Companies are managing a virtualized computing layer that more than ever relies on the network."

Intelliden technology will be integrated into IBM Tivoli Software. The IBM Software Group has made more than 50 acquisitions since 2003.

For more information, visit the IBM website.