IBM's Software Gambit - Forbes.com

"The company says it is partnering with some 4,000 applications companies, spending $500 million per year on 30 technology centers worldwide that they and IBM use to develop products, and another $500 million on joint sales and marketing activities. In the last 20 months alone, IBM tapped a network of over 100 venture capital firms to recruit some 950 independent software vendors (ISVs) into the group."