IBM Acquires Ustream to Build Out Cloud Video Unit

With the acquisition of cloud-based live video streaming service provider Ustream, IBM is creating a cloud video services unit to offer a portfolio of video services including API development, digital and visual analytics, and delivery. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

San Francisco-based Ustream streams live and on-demand video to about 80 million viewers per month, for customers including enterprises and broadcasters, according to a statement.

The new IBM Cloud Video Services unit will be headed by GM Braxton Jarratt and combine assets from Ustream and Clearleap, the cloud-based video services provider it acquired in December. As ZDNet notes, IBM can “use the content Ustream broadcasts as a hook to sell its marketing and analytics services.”

“Video has become a first-class data type in business that requires accelerated performance and powerful analytics that allows clients to extract meaningful insights,” Robert LeBlanc, Senior Vice President, IBM Cloud said in a statement. “Aligning our expansive video and cloud innovations into an integrated unit will create opportunities for clients to take advantage of this medium in the most strategic way possible.”

The core of the Ustream portfolio is its open Ustream Development Platform which allows clients to create custom video apps to run video across devices and embed into any application. IBM plans to integrate Ustream’s development platform into Bluemix to allow clients to provide video services to developers.

“Video is the most powerful and emotional medium,” said Brad Hunstable, CEO, Ustream. “Increasingly it is becoming the favored form of communication, not just for entertainment, but also for business. We’ve built a video platform that is easy-to-use, yet incredibly scalable, secure and powerful and it is these qualities that made us an ideal addition to IBM’s portfolio.”