Without a doubt, German Formula 1™ driver Sebastian Vettel ended this year’s Formula 1 racing season on a high note, winning his second title. Vettel went into his last race of the year with increased confidence, leaving many of the more experienced veteran drivers in his rear view mirror.

In my mind, Vettel’s performance is parallel to recent M&A activity in the Asia Pacific Region (APAC), which has outpaced more mature markets and has shown stronger sequential M&A growth than many regions globally, with a 44 percent increase from Q2 2011 to Q3 2011. The significant traction in deal activity that we observed this quarter in APAC is consistent with an overall flight to long-term growth prospects visible in the market.

Business travel is always the same, more or less, anywhere in the world you go. Security checkpoints, flight delays, and lines at the ticket counter are all a predictable part of what you’re in for when you fly the friendly skies. The only thing that can make flying a bit unpredictable is the weather. I, for one, hate turbulence. I’m not a nervous flier, I just don’t like feeling bumps in the air at 33,000 feet.

The M&A market kind of reminds me of a plane that hit some turbulence (back in 2008 and early 2009), but since then and according to our latest quarterly Deal Flow Indicator the market has regained cruising altitude. Year-over-year results for deal activity are up a healthy 24% for Q1 2011 and 72% from the bottom of the market in Q1 2009. It appears that M&A activity levels have normalized.

At the end of April, IntraLinks attended Infosecurity Europe, Europe’s largest information security event. Celebrating its 15th year, Infosecurity Europe attracted over 12,000 information security professionals to Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, where delegates gathered to discuss the most pressing information security issues and attend a variety of education sessions hosted by international speakers and industry experts.

With over 300 exhibitors, Infosecurity Europe provided the perfect opportunity to showcase new and innovative services to top security professionals across Europe. IntraLinks was there to showcase IntraLinks Courier, a secure, efficient and cost effective solution to streamline ad-hoc large file transfers. IntraLinks Courier seamlessly integrates with company email systems or can be used as a desktop application or via a web-based browser, introducing unmatched security to help business users securely exchange large files while maintaining compliance with requirements that govern their businesses.

Like many of those involved in the M&A market, I started the new decade thinking that things could only get better after recent economic challenges, and it appears that there are grounds for optimism.

With global M&A deal activity slipping down to 22% from 2008 levels (according to Dealogic) and some suggesting that we may have seen the bottom of the M&A market in 2009, I think it's safe to say that we’ll all be glad to say goodbye to 2009. And what better way to say farewell and to round the year off than with our Q4 Deal Flow Indicator results.