Earlier this year, IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano laid out a five-year, $20 billion acquisition plan. Those acquisitions are expected to be concentrated in business analytics and optimization, as well as cloud computing and technology in areas such as traffic management, energy and health.

Indeed, IBM has been on a spending spree this year, snatching up companies that offer technologies ranging from cross-channel commerce to cloud integration, from real-time data compression to marketing.

Here’s a list of IBM’s acquisitions in 2010 -- so far – from bringing in network strengths to cutting edge security and analytics.

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