IBM boosts cloud offerings with Ustream buy

Technology world centenarian IBM has boosted its Internet cloud offerings with the takeover of live video streaming services firm Ustream.

IBM did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition announced on Wednesday, but said it would enable the company to expand the array of cloud-based services it can provide to businesses or broadcasters.

San Francisco-based Ustream specializes in streaming live or on-demand video. IBM said that Ustream delivers video to about 80 million viewers monthly for customers such as NASA, Facebook, Samsung, and The Discovery Channel.

Ustream will become part of a newly-formed IBM Cloud Services unit and target a cloud-based video services market that IBM estimated to be a "$105 billion opportunity."

Video has become a prime method for connecting with customers or employees through webcasts, training 'webinars,' how-to snippets, and other manners, according to New York-based IBM.

"Video is the most powerful and emotional medium," Ustream chief executive Brad Hunstable, CEO maintained in a release.

"Increasingly it is becoming the favored form of communication, not just for entertainment, but also for business.