Established in 2020, StepZen claims to use a declarative programming approach, which leads to less and more intuitive code, improved runtime performance, and faster time to value

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GraphQL developer StepZen acquired by IBM. (Credit: Treesmittenex/Wikimedia Commons)

IBM has announced the acquisition of California-based StepZen in a move to support enterprises in realising more business value from their data and application programming interfaces (APIs).

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

StepZen has developed a GraphQL server with a distinctive architecture that allows developers to build GraphQL APIs faster and with less code.

Established in 2020, StepZen claims to use a declarative programming approach, which leads to less and more intuitive code, improved runtime performance, and quicker time to value.

Designed to be highly flexible, StepZen is compatible with other API approaches and is available as-a-Service (SaaS). It is also said to support deployments in private clouds and on-premises data centres.

The acquisition of StepZen is expected to complement IBM’s organic growth in important areas such as API management, integration, data fabric, and data management.

IBM Software product management and growth senior vice president Kareem Yusuf said: “StepZen is the latest example of how IBM is innovating through a combination of R&D and strategic acquisitions to deliver the data, AI, and automation solutions that businesses need in the hybrid cloud era.

“StepZen complements IBM’s organic development in key areas including integration, API management, data fabric, and data management.

“For example, IBM delivered new AI testing capabilities for IBM API Connect, which analyzes your APIs, generates test cases automatically, and reports any errors that it observes, helping improve code quality and developer productivity.

“We believe StepZen’s innovative technology for GraphQL API creation complements the innovations IBM is driving in API Connect to enable businesses to build better digital experiences for their clients.”

According to IBM, GraphQL is emerging as a new standard for APIs and has quickly become a go-to query language for businesses to interact with their data.

StepZen was created by a team with deep expertise in APIs and cloud-scale deployments, and is said to have contributed to database technology including IBM Db2, PostgreSQL, and Apache Derby.

Earlier this month, IBM joined forces with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to leverage the former’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to find new insights in NASA’s repository of Earth and geospatial science data.