IBM to acquire WDG Automation to add RPA in its portfolio

IBM has announced that it will acquire the Brazilian software provider, WDG Automation. It is specialized in Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

The terms of the deal were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter.  

IBM said WDG Automation, formally known as WDG Soluções Em Sistemas E Automação De Processos LTDA, will strengthen the company to embed RPA throughout its portfolio. IBM services will use WDG Automation for client digital transformation efforts and analytics and artificial intelligence workloads.

WDG Automation's portfolio includes RPA, automation, interactive voice response, and chatbots, as well as technology to create automations without IT help.

IBM also plans to integrate 600 pre-built RPA functions from WDG Automation into its Cloud Pack for Automation. IBM mentioned WDG Automation capabilities will be embedded into Watson AIOps and Cloud Pak for Multicloud Management.

WDG Automation's customer base is largely local and regional, but RPA is language agnostic. Michael Gilfix, Vice President of Cloud Integration at IBM, said, the RPA script execution is language independent, meaning they support local languages for data. The WDG technology supports Unicode data today. As we bring the technology to other markets, we will be translating the user interface and documentation to local languages to make it easy for international audiences to get started. And yes, WDG Automation is based in Brazil with local/regional clients, but IBM's intent to acquire WDG Automation is to further advance its comprehensive AI-infused automation capabilities, spanning business processes to IT operations