IBM will acquire Platform Computing, a cluster and grid management software company based in Toronto, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Financial details were not disclosed, according to an IBM press release.

The Platform Computing deal will lead to faster growth in smarter computing for IBM. Overall, IBM says that Smarter Planet projects will lead to some $10 billion in revenue by 2015 for IBM.

"IBM considers the acquisition of Platform Computing to be a strategic element for the transformation of HPC into the high growth segment of technical computing and an important part of our smarter computing strategy," Helene Armitage, general manager, IBM Systems Software, said in a company statement. "This acquisition can be leveraged across IBM as we enhance our IBM offerings and solutions, providing clients with technology that helps draw insights to fuel critical business decisions or breakthrough science."

The Canadian-based Platform Computing has over 2,000 clients. These include 23 of the 30 largest businesses. Among its customers are: CERN, Citigroup, Infineon, Pratt & Whitney, Red Bull Racing, Sanger Institute, Statoil and University of Tokyo. The company currently has about 500 employees.

"Platform Computing's software has a proven track record over the past 19 years of helping clients to accelerate innovation, business analytics and IT services while being easy to deploy and manage," Songnian Zhou, CEO, Platform Computing, said in the company statement. "Our market-leading software has enabled broad adoption of commodity clusters and enterprise grids around the world. This acquisition will enable Platform Computing to better serve our customers by leveraging the IBM solution portfolio and extend the reach of our pioneering distributed computing software for broader enterprise adoption."

Platform Computing will be integrated into the IBM Systems and Technology Group, according to a statement carried by TechZone360.