IBM Acquires Salesforce Cloud Consulting Partner Waeg -

IBM is acquiring Salesforce cloud consulting partner Waeg. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 273 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.

Also, this is IBM's second Salesforce-related partner acquisition of 2021. The other deal involved buying 7Summits. Here’s an expanding list of recent IBM acquisitions. Each of those IBM acquisitions (including such deals as Nordcloud, Taos, Expertus and Truqua) align with IBM's strategy to expand its hybrid cloud and AI technology skills.

IBM Acquires Waeg; Gains Salesforce Cloud Migration Expertise

Acquiring Waeg is the latest piece in IBM CEO Arvind Krishna’s effort to pivot the enterprise technology provider toward multi-cloud software that drives business automation. Major software components in the strategy include Red Hat OpenShift and IBM Cloud Pak developments.

Supporting Salesforce cloud migrations and integrations aligns with that overall strategy. Waeg, founded in 2014, provides Salesforce consulting services that address business-to-business commerce, marketing automation, customer experience design and implementation, and managed services, IBM says. Waeg has offices in seven European countries.

Waeg employees have earned more than 400 Salesforce certifications. Areas of expertise within Salesforce's Navigator program span Manufacturing, Pardot, Salesforce B2B Commerce -- plus know-how in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industries.

IBM Acquires Waeg: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the deal, Mark Foster, senior VP, IBM services and global business services, said:

"Salesforce continues to play a critical role in companies' digital transformations as they adapt to the conditions created by the pandemic. Trust is the new currency of customer and employment engagement, and every touchpoint is an opportunity to personalize the relationship. Waeg's strength in Salesforce consulting services will be key to creating intelligent workflows that allow our clients to keep pace with changing customer and employee needs and expectations."

Added Tyler Prince, executive VP, worldwide alliances and channels, Salesforce.

"Our partner ecosystem is an important growth channel for Salesforce, and IBM continues to expand their capabilities across the world, most recently with the addition of Waeg. The combination of IBM and Waeg's Salesforce consulting capabilities and assets will help give customers across Europe the capabilities to create streamlined, automated experiences on the Salesforce platform."

Concluded Chris Timmerman, co-founder and managing partner, Waeg:

"Waeg's growth was built on the simple notion of helping our clients successfully navigate constantly changing customer demands. Now, as we join forces with IBM, we are excited to leverage our collective Salesforce capabilities to accelerate that growth across Europe."

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021, IBM indicated.