IBM expands its diversified virtualization plans by snapping up Transitive, the cross-platform virtualization vendor Longtime computing giant IBM has confirmed its intentions to acquire privately owned California-based Transitive Corp. The news comes at a significant time as Transitive and IBM collectively try to help their clients deal with the economic downturn by optimizing the efficiency and productivity of computing infrastructures and improve the utilization of the servers that run them.Transitive specializes in cross-platform virtualization technology and is best known for its QuickTransit virtualization software. The company’s software allows applications written for one type of microprocessor or operating system to run on multiple platforms with little to no modification. The deal pushes Big Blue deeper into the competitive virtualization market.In a statement released yesterday, IBM said, “This acquisition is part of IBM’s strategy to help clients optimize the efficiency and productivity of their computing infrastructure and improve the utilization of the servers that run them.” IBM already bundles software from Transitive with some of its computer systems. Transitive technology is included as part of the IBM PowerVMTM software, which lets customers consolidate their x86 Linux workloads onto IBM servers.Financial terms of the pending deal were not disclosed with Tuesday’s announcement. However, with Transitive in the fold, IBM says it plans to develop additional products to make server migrations and consolidations even easier for its clients to complete. Software Development