IBM Acquiring Software-Bot Maker WDG Automation
08 Julho 2020 - 9:40PM
Dow Jones News
By Vinod Sreeharsha
International Business Machines Corp. said Wednesday it is
acquiring Brazilian robotic process automation software developer
WDG Soluções Em Sistemas E Automação De Processos Ltda., a move
that would give IBM its own RPA technology.
IBM had partnered with other firms to supply RPA technology to
its customers and will continue to do so, said Michael Gilfix, the
company's vice president of cloud integration.
WDG Automation's software, which features
artificial-intelligence capabilities, enables businesses to
automate workplace tasks. The company, based in São José do Rio
Preto, Brazil, has more than 600 prebuilt robotic process
automation functions.
Initially, IBM will integrate WDG Automation's technology into
its Cloud Pak for Automation business software, both companies
said, and eventually into Watson AIOps, an AI solution for
automating information-technology operations. IBM will use the
technology to deliver automation for its clients across areas that
include customer service, human resources and supply chain, the
company said.
Financial terms of the deal, expected to close in the third
quarter of this year, weren't disclosed.
The benefit of this new deal is that IBM now has one technology
that serves multiple business needs, said Mr. Gilfix.
"IBM now offers clients a completely integrated solution," Mr.
Gilfix added.
The transaction also helps the technology giant push forward its
vision of expanding hybrid cloud use and applications of its AI
technologies such as Watson, a key objective of Arvind Krishna, who
became the company's chief executive earlier this year.
"The deal is very much in line with a main focus of IBM," said
Chirag Dekate, a vice president and analyst at Gartner Inc. That
includes helping chief information officers automate core functions
they manage and enabling them to become more productive.
WDG Automation's technology has natural language processing
capabilities for understanding and categorizing text and voice
requests. It also features clickstream mining and machine learning,
which enables it to analyze how employees spend their time on
business tasks and suggests how to automate them. The AI technology
finds patterns in what a person does on the computer and will
suggest a robot that can replicate the most redundant tasks, said
Robson Felix, founder and chief executive of WDG Automation.
WDG Automation clients have included Deloitte, which is both a
customer and implements the technology for clients, said Mr. Felix.
Others, which are mostly in Latin America, include
telecommunications company Claro and meat-processing company
Minerva Foods.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 08, 2020 20:25 ET (00:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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