Lenovo to Acquire Stoneware

Lenovo has agreed to acquire cloud computing software company Stoneware Inc. As a result, the company will add new technologies and enhance its capabilities for both commercial and consumer cloud offerings. Particularly, the company will improve its ability to provide secure content across multiple devices in education and government.
 
Stoneware, whose cloud products include webNetwork and LanSchool, serves users primarily in education and the public sector. The acquisition will help extend the reach of these products as well as new offerings, and will also help develop the opportunity to extend this technology beyond government and education into more consumer-focused offerings over time.
 
“Adding Stoneware cloud computing into the Lenovo lineup presents a significant opportunity to leverage its success and enhance our PC Plus offerings, all to the benefit of our customers,” says Peter Hortensius, senior vice president and president of product group, Lenovo.

The acquisition will provide Lenovo PC users with a better way to connect those devices with their tablets and smartphones, and is one of the steps the company has taken to offer end-to-end secure solutions to business customers and cloud-based technology to consumers.
 
While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the acquisition is not material to Lenovo’s earnings. Stoneware’s 67 employees, all of whom are located in either Indiana or Salt Lake City, Utah, will join Lenovo, and there will be no job losses as a result of the announcement.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The current Stoneware team will remain in Indiana and Utah and will continue to provide both webNetwork and LanSchool.