IBM has acquired Cast Iron Systems to broaden its delivery of cloud computing services for clients. Cast Iron Systems, a privately held company based in California, delivers cloud integration software, appliances and services. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition expands IBM's business process and integration software portfolio, which it says grew more than 20% in the first quarter of 2010.

Cast Iron Systems has completed thousands of cloud integrations around the world for financial institutions, media and entertainment companies and retail organizations. The company's clients include Allianz, NEC and Dow Jones.

IBM expects the global cloud computing market to grow at a compounded annual rate of 28 per cent from $47 billion (£31 billion) in 2008 to $126 billion (£83 billion) by 2012.

A challenge businesses face in adopting cloud delivery models is integrating the disparate systems running in their data centres with new cloud based applications. In the past, this involved coding work. Through Cast Iron Systems, IBM is gaining the ability to help businesses speed up this integration. The acquisition also advances IBM's capabilities for a hybrid cloud model, which it believes is attractive to enterprises because it allows them to blend data from on-premise applications with public and private cloud systems.

Using Cast Iron Systems' hundreds of pre-built templates and services expertise, expensive custom coding can be eliminated, allowing cloud integrations to be completed in the space of days, rather than weeks or longer. These results can be achieved using a physical appliance, a virtual appliance or a cloud service.