Developer tooling maker Perforce Software Inc. is acquiring Puppet Inc., which provides software that companies use to automate the management of their information technology infrastructure.

Perforce announced the deal this morning. The acquisition’s financial terms were not disclosed. 

Minneapolis-based Perforce provides a collection of software products designed to help application development teams become more productive. The company’s products can be used for tasks such as managing the code files that comprise an application and test updates before they roll out production. Perforce also offers tools for more specialized tasks, such as troubleshooting flaws in workloads that run on supercomputers. 

Portland-based Puppet, in turn, develops a popular IT infrastructure automation platform of the same name. Managing a company’s IT infrastructure involves repetitive tasks, such as downloading software patches and provisioning servers, that can require a significant amount of manual work. Puppet’s platform makes it possible to automate manual maintenance tasks using scripts.

Puppet’s platform is available under an open-source license. The startup generates revenue by selling commercial editions that offer additional features not included in the open-source version. On the occasion of its acquisition by Perforce, Puppet disclosed today its commercial products and professional services business are generating more than $100 million in combined annual revenue.

The infrastructure automation software that Perforce is acquiring through the deal will complement its developer tools. The company will gain the ability to help enterprise customers manage not only their application development projects, but also the infrastructure on which their applications run.

“Puppet has been in the DevOps space for over 15 years with a focus on infrastructure-as-code and operators,” said Puppet Chief Executive Officer Yvonne Wassenaar. “Going forward, however, we believe enterprise customers are looking for strategic partners who can provide more breadth and depth across the entire DevOps lifecycle. Integrating Puppet into Perforce does just that.”

One of the tasks that Puppet’s platform can help software teams automate is provisioning hardware for new workloads. Before developers deploy an application to production, they have to set up an infrastructure environment on which the application can run. Puppet’s platform makes it possible to create scripts that automate the process.

The cybersecurity segment in another area where the acquisition will help Perforce expand its capabilities. Puppet’s platform can be used to automate tasks such as downloading security patches onto the servers that run a company’s software. The startup also offers a commercial product, Puppet Comply, that helps companies ensure their IT environments comply with regulations.

“This acquisition expands our product offering by adding new capabilities for enterprise DevOps teams to manage and secure their critical infrastructure,” said Perforce CEO Mark Ties. “With Puppet, we will be providing our customers with access to a product portfolio that enables them to drive innovation on a global scale. 

Perforce expects to complete the acquisition this quarter. After the deal closes, the combined company will have 1,700 employees as well as a customer base that includes 40 of the enterprises of the Fortune 50 list. 

Image: Perforce