IBM expands data expertise with Hakkoda acquisition

IBM has acquired Hakkoda, a global data and AI consultancy with an Asian presence in India. The acquisition amplifies IBM's ability to meet the growing demand for data services and help clients build integrated enterprise data estates that are optimised for speed, cost and efficiency across multiple business use cases. 

Estimated global spending for enterprise intelligence services initiatives stands at US$169 B and, with a five-year CAGR of about 13%, is expected to grow to more than US$243 B by 2028, according to IDC*. To extract value from their data, business leaders need a thoughtful data migration strategy and a modern, multi-use case data platform on the cloud. 

Hakkoda is expected to expand IBM Consulting's data transformation services portfolio, adding specialised data platform expertise to help clients get their data ready to fuel AI-powered business operations. Hakkoda has capabilities in migrating, modernising, and monetising data estates and is an award-winning Snowflake partner. 

An Elite Snowflake partner, Hakkoda brings hundreds of SnowPro core and advanced certifications. It was named the 2024 Snowflake Healthcare & Life Sciences Services Partner of the Year. Hakkoda is also an advanced-tier AWS partner.

The company further brings generative AI-powered assets that can speed up data modernisation projects. Their industry solutions complement and build on their consultants' deep expertise in industries like financial services, public sector, and healthcare and life sciences. Hakkoda will also expand IBM's ability to bring both consulting expertise and AI to clients using its IBM Consulting Advantage AI-powered delivery platform.

"IBM is at the leading edge of the consulting industry with how we're supercharging our consultants with AI," said Mohamad Ali, Senior VP and Head of IBM Consulting. 

"With Hakkoda's data expertise, deep technology partnerships and asset-centric delivery model, IBM will be even better positioned to deliver value faster to clients as they transform with AI."

"From the beginning, Hakkoda has committed to being 'in the arena', not observing the greatest transformation in history but shaping it," said Erik Duffield, CEO and Co-founder of Hakkoda. 

"It is because of this that we are excited to join IBM at this critical moment when organizations are looking for a trusted partner to help them modernise their data for the AI era. IBM's heritage of innovation, their commitment to discovery and deep partnerships with clients on their most technical challenges is a perfect pairing to take Hakkoda's industry focused modern data consulting to the global marketplace."