2 min

Confluent announced the acquisition of Immerok. The German startup develops a platform that simplifies the development of stream processing applications. 

The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Immerok has previously raised $17 million. Stream processing applications analyze data in real time, unlike traditional applications, which can take anywhere from minutes to days to analyze new information. 

To process data in real time, stream processing applications have to collect information as soon as it is generated. Many organizations use open-source tool Apache Kafka to collect data. Confluent, based in California, offers the most popular commercial distribution of Kafka.

Immerok

After a stream processing application collects new data points, it has to process them nearly instantly to avoid delaying real-time analytics workflows. Processing must typically be completed within a few fractions of a second. Immerok provides a platform that makes it easier to equip applications with functionality to analyze collected data in near-real time.

Immerok’s platform is based on the open-source Apache Flink stream processing framework. Flink has been adopted by Apple, Goldman Sachs and several other large enterprises. Some organizations use the framework to process trillions of data points daily.

Immerok’s platform enhances the open-source version of Flink with features that make the software easier to run in the cloud. The startup provides its platform as a managed service. According to Immerok, the offering automates everyday maintenance tasks, such as adding and removing infrastructure resources as user requirements change.

Confluent’s plans

After acquiring Immerok, Confluent intends to introduce its own managed Flink service. The service, set to be available later this year, should allow customers to collect and process data in real-time using Confluent’s commercial Kafka distribution. 

Confluent CEO Jay Kreps said that stream processing enables organizations to “derive actionable insights” from their data in real time. The acquisition of Immerok provides the company with a popular stream processing engine. 

Immerok’s technology will complement Confluent’s existing real-time data processing features, such as ksqlDB, a specialized database for real-time analysis.

Tip: Safe airstreams, Confluent climbs higher with data governance control