IBM announced on Tuesday that it is pursuing the acquisition of The Now Factory, a Dublin-based provider of software analytics for communications service providers.

IBM says the acquisition complements its MobileFirst Analytics portfolio, and is part of its long-term strategy to support strong expected growth in big data and analytics.

“The Now Factory’s innovative solutions are all about enabling quick insights for better business results in the highly competitive telecommunications landscape,” said The Now Factory CEO Tom Morrisroe. “As part of IBM, we can now extend our technologies to a broader range of clients to help them uncover new, untapped growth opportunities, and achieve tangible business value from big data and analytics.”

The Now Factory will become part of IBM’s Software Group.

“Today’s announcement is part of IBM’s strategy to continually establish leadership in the era of big data and capitalize on the opportunity to analyze data in real time,” said Bob Picciano, General Manager, Information Management at the IBM Software Group. “The Now Factory’s software enhances IBM’s Big Data and Analytics portfolio by improving the speed, development and implementation of big data solutions, and gives communications service providers the ability to better service their customers.”

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Terms were not disclosed.