IBM boosts network and IT automation with Pliant acquisition

IBM has acquired network and IT infrastructure automation company Pliant for an undisclosed amount. 

The acquisition will support IBM's current software portfolio, which includes SevOne, Cloud Pak for Network Automation (CP4NA), Hybrid Cloud Mesh (HCM), IBM NS1 Connect and Edge Application Manager, according to IBM. It will provide enterprise customers with additional observability, connectivity, control and automation options in their network infrastructure, the company added.

Pliant's customers include enterprises, service providers and managed service providers in addition to companies in verticals such as education, healthcare and retail.

"With the acquisition of Pliant, IBM will provide clients the ability to radically simplify the automation of their infrastructure and network with a tool that securely automates, integrates, and connects the platforms, services, and applications within their environments," said Andrew Coward, GM for software-defined networking for IBM, in a blog post.

Launched in 2017, US-based Pliant provides network and IT automation by abstracting those functions to the application layer. The company's software also supports resource provisioning and management and traffic and configuration management in traditional IT infrastructure and in the public cloud. Pliant's product is provided as client managed software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) and integrates with third-party vendors and technology using application programming interfaces (APIs) or command line interfaces (CLIs).

'Aligns with IBM's vision'

"Pliant's design approach to automation aligns with IBM's vision to build and grow a product portfolio that leverages low-code and no-code capabilities to make IT tools and skills accessible to a wider range of developers and engineers," said Coward.

This is IBM's second acquisition in 2024. In January, IBM announced plans to bring in application modernization capabilities from an acquisition of Advanced, which is scheduled to close in Q2 of 2024. IBM has acquired more than 40 companies since Arvind Krishna took over as CEO in 2020.

Pliant's investors include Permit Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, newfund, Leading Edge Ventures, Gutbrain Ventures, Brightcap Ventures and more.