IBM unveils DataStax buy as HashiCorp deal finally closes

IBM has announced a flurry of acquisition activity, with the opening of one deal and the closing of another.

Last week, the company revealed it was planning to acquire DataStax, in the expectation that its open-source cloud NoSQL and vector database products will augment IBM’s own watsonx capabilities. It also adds a generative-AI app creation tool to IBM’s armoury. 

Using DataStax’s products to wrangle unstructured and semi-structured data will allow customers to more easily deploy generative AI applications that can make use of that data, IBM said. 

Specifically, IBM is hoping DataStax’s NoSQL and vector database products, AstraDB and DataStax Enterprise, will dovetail with IBM’s watsonx AI platform to improve customers’ “data performance, search relevancy, and overall operational efficiency”, Ritika Gunnar, GM of Data and AI at IBM, wrote in a blog. 

Big Blue has also been talking up DataStax’s open-source, Python-based Langflow tool for rapid prototyping of genAI applications. “By providing a low-code interface, it simplifies the complex integration of generative AI models, data processing, and AI workflows, enabling developers to focus on creating intelligent generative AI applications rather than managing technical integrations and complexity associated with building AI applications,” Gunnar wrote.

IBM and DataStax had an OEM deal prior to the acquisition, with DataStax’s Enterprise available through IBM. 

DataStax’s customers include FedEx, Capital One and Verizon, while the pair have shared clients including T-Mobile, Audi, and The Home Depot.

IBM announces purchase of HashiCorp has closed

At the same time, IBM announced its $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp had closed, adding extra firepower to its hybrid cloud arsenal. 

HashiCorp offers products for managing hybrid cloud environments, including security and automation tools. 

IBM announced its intention to buy HashiCorp in April last year. In December, the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), announced that it would be considering whether the deal would “result in a substantial lessening of competition” in UK markets. The CMA decided earlier this month to clear the merger, allowing the deal to close.  

IBM said it saw several areas of synergy between its products and HashiCorp’s, including around Red Hat, watsonx, data security, automation, and consulting. IBM added that it expected that HashiCorp’s Terraform automation tool and IBM’s Red Hat Ansible automation platform would work together, and that Red Hat OpenShift and HashiCorp Vault could be used jointly across hybrid cloud environments.  

When it first announced the deal, IBM said HashiCorp’s software had been downloaded over half a billion times and was used by 85% of Fortune 500 firms. It also predicted that it would also be able to expand HashiCorp’s reach beyond the US, which accounts for the majority of its sales, as well as upsell more products to its clients.

Also in the news

• HPE promises to “modernise your network from client to cloud” at MWC 2025
• Cost blowouts push UK businesses towards hybrid cloud storage, Wasabi finds
• IBM unveils Granite 3.2: enhanced AI model for the enterprise