IBM buys Upstream to build on cloud offerings

Ustream joins the newly-formed IBM Cloud Video Services unit that combines assets from IBM’s R&D labs and strategic acquisitions. It’s used by corporations and Joe Consumer alike. Accordingly, IBM Cloud Senior Vice President, Robert LeBlanc, reports, “Video has become a first-class data type in business that requires accelerated performance and powerful analytics that allows clients to extract meaningful insights”.

This could be a smart move for the tactile technology company as Ustream-which has only been in operation since 2007-already delivers high-quality live and on-demand content from providers like Facebook, Nike, the Discovery Channel, Samsung, and NASA. Its report noted the partnership between IBM and Ustream goes back to April 2014, when the startup was the sole video provider part of IBM’s cloud marketplace.

Fortune (via TechCrunch) reported the sale at $130 million, but IBM didn’t confirm that price with its official announcement.

If the deal of $130 million proves to be accurate, it represents a modest outcome for the startup Ustream and a relatively modest one for Big Blue’s stated ambitions for acquisitions.

The new cloud video unit will be led by General Manager Braxton Jarrett, the former CEO of Clearleap, which IBM acquired last month. Customers can use this to create custom video apps to run on any device, or embed video into any app. They also have access to real-time social analytics to learn how audiences react to video as it streams. Company co-founder and Chief Executive Brad Hunstable said in a statement announcing the deal that it was Ustream’s expertise in secure, scalable video “that made us an ideal addition to IBM’s portfolio”. The acquisition will help developers build live video streaming features on Bluemix. “Increasingly it is becoming the favored form of communication, not just for entertainment, but also for business. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, and has a development office in Budapest, Hungary, and data centers in San Jose, Calif., Amsterdam and Tokyo.