IBM Breakfasts on Blade

For IBM, September has been one big shopping spree. First came the company’s $1.7 billion acquisition of data warehousing and analytics company Netezza, then the purchase of risk management outfit OpenPages for an undisclosed sum. And today, IBM announced plans to buy Blade Network Technologies, which makes Ethernet switching hardware and software for data centers.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though word on the street has it that it’s worth roughly $400 million. That seems a reasonable price if it helps to futher secure IBM’s (IBM) position in the increasingly competetive data-center market.