Sterling Commerce, an IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 company, provides business-to-business (B2B) commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 solution

Solution

In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...

s that enable the sharing of information among people, business systems, and enterprise systems. The company offers integration products and services through its Business Integration Suite, that address the business problems corporations face when seeking to integrate business processes internally and externally with their customers, partners, and suppliers. Sterling Commerce also provides supply chain

Supply chain

A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...

 execution solutions through its Selling and Fulfillment Suite, that streamline the commerce lifecycle. In support of its solutions, the company also supplies education, consulting, implementation, customer support services, and complete outsourcing

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...

 of B2B commerce solutions. Clients include companies and organizations in retail, healthcare, banking, distribution, financial services, logistics, manufacturing, local and federal governments, and communications and media sectors. Headquartered in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 city of Dublin, Ohio

Dublin, Ohio

Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 41,751 at the 2010 census. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Approximately 57,000 people live within the Dublin school district....

, Sterling Commerce has offices throughout North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. On May 24, 2010, IBM agreed to acquire Sterling Commerce from AT&T for 1.4 Billion and closed the deal on August 28, 2010.

Acquisitions

• In 2000, SBC Communications Inc. purchased Sterling Commerce. With the merger of AT&T
  AT&T
  AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
  
   Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. in November 2005, Sterling Commerce became an AT&T company.
• In 2005, Sterling Commerce acquired Yantra Corporation, a provider of distributed order management and supply chain fulfillment solutions.
• In 2006, Sterling Commerce acquired Nistevo, a leading provider of on-demand transportation management solutions.
• In early 2007, Sterling Commerce acquired Comergent Technologies Inc., a developer of e-business order management software.
• In May 2010, IBM announced that it intended to purchase Sterling Commerce from AT&T
  AT&T
  AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
  
   Corp.
• On August 28, 2010, IBM closes $1.4B acquisition of Sterling from AT&T

See also

• Electronic commerce
  Electronic commerce
  Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...
  
  
• Electronic Data Interchange
  Electronic Data Interchange
  Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...
  
  
• Enterprise Application Integration
  Enterprise application integration
  Enterprise Application Integration is defined as the use of software and computer systems architectural principles to integrate a set of enterprise computer applications.- Overview :...
  
  
• Managed File Transfer
  Managed File Transfer
  Managed file transfer ' refers to software solutions that facilitate the secure transfer of data, in flight and at rest, from one computer to another through a network . MFT solutions are often built to support the FTP network protocol...
  
  
• Supply Chain Management
  Supply chain management
  Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...
  
  
• Value-added network
  Value-added network
  A Value-added Network is a hosted service offering that acts as an intermediary between business partners sharing standards based or proprietary data via shared Business Processes...
  
  
• List of mergers and acquisitions by IBM