According to reports,IBMIt was announced on Monday that it has acquired Norwegian cloud consulting service provider Nordcloud, hoping to gain an advantage in the intensifying cloud computing war. IBM did not disclose the price of the deal.

Nordcloud was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. It currently has a turnover of around 50 million euros (about 61 million US dollars) and employs more than 450 people. IBM said the acquisition will “enhance” its hybrid cloud consulting capabilities.

John Granger (John Granger), senior vice president and chief operating officer of IBM Global Business Services (Global Business Services), said in a statement: “IBM's acquisition of Nordcloud will strengthen our expertise, drive the digital transformation of our customers, and support the further adoption of IBM's hybrid cloud platform.”

The global cloud market has been booming over the past few years. Analysts from two leading research agencies, Gartner and IDC, anticipate that the global professional cloud services market will reach 200 billion US dollars by 2024.

In this field, IBM is confronted withMicrosoft,AmazonswithGooglefierce competition from other companies. Recently, IBM has also been strengthening its cloud business. Previously, IBM also bought open source software providers for $34 billionRed Riding Hood(Red Hat) Inc.

“IBM's hybrid cloud approach complements our cloud-native approach to help customers migrate, manage and modernize in the cloud,” Nordcloud Chairman and Founder Fernando Herrera (Fernando Herrera) said in a statement.

Herrera also said, “As an experienced partner in the current cloud ecosystem, we work with all public cloud providers to benefit our European customers. I'm so excited to embrace IBM's open and innovative mindset and help expand its global footprint.”