IT management software maker BMC Software on Monday has struck a deal to buy datacenter automation player BladeLogic, for nearly $800 million.

The acquisition -- which will see BMC (NYSE: BMC) buying BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG), for $28 per share in cash, above Friday's $23.61 close -- is designed to round out BMC's product portfolio.

BMC makes business service management (BSM) software that helps IT staff manage an enterprise's technology.

Adding BladeLogic's service to its own roster of BSM products could enable BMC to offer businesses greater IT automation -- seen as a way to cut costs as budgets balloon.

"Organizations around the world will spend more than $140 billion dollars this year running datacenters," said Bob Beauchamp, BMC's president and chief executive officer. "Automation is the only way IT can bring this spending under control and still meet the reliability and time-to-market requirements of their businesses."

Beauchamp also described the two companies' merger as "a natural and very significant next step."

BSM has become a white-hot area in IT, dominated by BMC and heavyweights including HP, IBM and CA. Storage giant EMC has also begun pushing into the space.

While the deal will slightly dilute BMC's earnings during its 2009 fiscal year, the company expects to see BladeLogic adding to its profit beginning the following year.

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