ARMONK — IBM today announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Brazilian software provider of robotic process automation (RPA) WDG Soluções Em Sistemas E Automação De Processos LTDA (WDG Automation).
Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q3.
The tech giant, with a large presence in the Triangle, said the acquisition further advances its artificial intelligence-infused (AI) automation capabilities, “spanning business processes to IT operations.”
Specifically, it will extend the IBM Cloud Pak offerings on Red Hat OpenShift, starting with Cloud Pak for Automation. As part of the acquisition, IBM will integrate over 600 pre-built RPA functions from WDG Automation into Cloud Pak for Automation to help businesses turn insights from AI into automated actions.
“IBM already automates how companies apply AI to business processes and IT operations so they can detect opportunities and problems and recommend next steps and solutions,” said Denis Kennelly, General Manager, Cloud Integration, IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software, in a statement. “With today’s announcement, IBM is taking that a step further and helping clients accelerate automation to more parts of the organization, not just to routine, but more complex tasks so employees can focus on higher value work.”
Added Kleber Rodrigues Junior, co-founder, WDG Automation: “Joining forces with IBM will scale our capabilities to a wider audience, helping companies around the world accelerate their growth on their business transformation journeys.”
WDG Automation’s RPA capabilities
WDG Automation is a software provider of RPA, headquartered in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. WDG Automation provides RPA, Intelligent Automation (IA), Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and chatbots primarily to customers in Latin America.
The WDG Automation technology is designed for business users to create automations using a desktop recorder without the need of IT. These software robots can run on-demand by the end user or by an automated scheduler.
Meanwhile, the IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is available on any public or private cloud, or on-premises. It offers clients a single set of AI-infused automation software and services, including data capture, workflow orchestration, decision management, monitoring and reporting, that helps companies design, build and run intelligently automated business processes and IT operations.
With WDG Automation, IBM said, clients will be able to more quickly identify more granular opportunities for automation, accelerate the deployment of bots, and streamline more end-to-end workflows. For example, during invoice processing, WDG Automation click-mining capabilities can help prioritize RPA deployments with WDG Automation pre-built scripts, integrated with the Cloud Pak for Automation, and can be deployed faster and smarter with infused AI.
Organizations including Banco Galicia, ENN Group in China, PNC Bank throughout the U.S., several Qatar government entities, and UK NHS Blood and Transplant, already are using IBM Cloud Pak for Automation capabilities to digitize and automate work.
