International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has revealed intentions to acquire Agile 3 Solutions, a risk visualization startup that is based in San Francisco. Currently, the startup is listed on a professional networking site as comprising only six employees. The company was started in 2009 by Raghu Varadana, a former IBM engineer. IBM did not disclose terms of the deal which also saw a sub-contractor of Agile 3, Ravy Technologies, also acquired.

“Adding Agile 3 Solutions to the IBM Security immune system of capabilities gives our team the ability to not only protect critical data, but demonstrate why it is at risk, and how to remediate that risk,” the general manager of IBM Security, Marc van Zadelhoff, said in a statement.

Risk contextualization

As a risk visualization firm, Agile 3 develops software that assists executives in visualizing and managing cybersecurity risks. It does not just provide cybercrime data to executives but the software it makes aids in contextualizing risk and making the case for increasing investment in cybersecurity. This is a growing field as corporations increasingly face more and more severe cybersecurity threats. The fact that cybersecurity threats may not have a direct impact on earnings, however, makes it hard to justify allocating funds to this segment. It may have an indirect one, though, and this software helps executives make that case.

The acquisition will be important to IBM Security as it could put the division in a better position to sell cybersecurity products. Before the acquisition, the startup had been an IBM business partner.

Betting on cybersecurity

This will not be the first acquisition by IBM Security as it has already bought 20 other firms. Alongside data analytics and cloud computing, cybersecurity ranks high among the sectors IBM is focused on in order to shore up revenues. Sales have dropped in the last 19 consecutive quarters owing to the fact that the server business and software licensing revenue streams have declined as the purchasing habits of customers change. In its latest quarterly results, revenues from IBM’s security business rose by 8 percent year-on-year to $600 million.

In Monday’s trading, shares of International Business Machines Corp rose by 0.32 percent to close the day at $171.03.