Five Acquisitions You May Have Missed
March 13, 2019 Alex Woodie
The New Year has started off with some wheeling and dealing, as some software company owners look to bulk up while others look to hand off responsibility to somebody else. Those operating in the IBM i marketplace aren’t alone in making acquisitions. Here are five under-the-radar deals in the midrange that you may have missed.
Attunity‘s line of real-time data integration software will now be sold through Qlik, which acquired the publicly traded company in a $560-million in late February. It was a natural enough move for Qlik, the well-regarded BI vendor that was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for about $3 billion in 2016.
Attunity’s core product is Replicate, a data integration product that uses change data capture (CDC) technology to move data from host databases, such as Oracle, IBM Db2, and Microsoft SQL Server databases, into target environments, such as Hadoop clusters, Teradata warehouses, and even streaming data platforms like Apache Kafka. The Massachusetts company supported the IBM i and System z variants of Db2, and had a number of prominent customers running on those platforms.
Since its re-alignment, Qlik – which also supports IBM i — has been investing aggressively in the big data space. In 2018 Qlik bought Podium Data, which develops a data cataloging tool that helps companies to keep track of their big data collections. Earlier this year, Qlik acquired CrunchBot, which develops a conversational analytics tool.
Data analytics is a hot space, and it’s also where we meet the second acquisition that you may have missed. A month ago, the folks at Jinfonet Software agreed to be acquired by Logi Analytics, a provider of embedded analytics.
Jinfonet’s Java-based reporting software, called JReport, supported IBM i and other platforms. Its strengths in operational reporting will be joined with Logi’s strengths in advanced dashboards, self-service analysis, and predictive analytics to create what the company hopes will be a new leader in the embedded analytics field.
“We’re thrilled to join the Logi Analytics family,” said Jinfonet CEO Bing Yao. “Our shared values, product breadth, and focus on customer success position us to continue powering smarter software.”
No story on IBM i-related acquisitions would be complete without a mention of HelpSystems, the Minnesota-based company has authored dozens of deals over the past decade, right in the IBM i sweet spot of systems automation and security.
Last month, HelpSystems bought security software from SecureAuth, the developer of cybersecurity software solutions. Specifically, HelpSystems gets the Core Security suite of products, which includes identity governance and administration, penetration testing, threat detection, and vulnerability management software.
SecureAuth was acquired two years ago for $225 million and then merged with Core Security, the original developer of the product by the same name. By disposing of the Core Security assets, SecureAuth is free to focus on its original identity access management product line, which includes multi-factor authentication and single sign-on software and services.
The deal will help HelpSystems protect customer assets, no matter what operating system they reside on, says HelpSystems CEO Chris Heim. “We’re now in a better position to fully support their initiatives across any platform with a multi-pronged approach to cybersecurity that gives busy IT/security professionals peace of mind,” he says.
Liaison Technologies, which develops data integration and security software for IBM i and other platforms, in December was acquired by OpenText, the Ontario, Canada-based provider of software and services.
OpenText says Atlanta, Georgia-based Liaison’s ALLOY data management and integration platform will be folded into the Open Text Business Network, a “suite of solutions that facilitate efficient, secure, and compliant information flows between people, systems, and things.” Open Text says its platform connects over 1 million businesses and processes trillions commerce transactions globally every year.
Last but not least, the FOG Software Group, which is a spin-off of sorts of the Friedman Operating Group that is owned by Toronto-based Constellation Software Inc., snapped up Factivity, a Cleveland, Ohio-based provider of an ERP system for manufacturers.
“Factivity is very complementary to our growing portfolio of manufacturing solutions, and brings added depth to multiple vertical markets that we serve,” says Andy Hodge, the portfolio manager for supply chain and logistics for FOG Software Group. Factivity’s software runs on Windows, Linux, and Unix servers.
Friedman software is still actively developing IBM i software. In fact, Friedman, which targets window and door makers (among other specialty manufactures), is actively soliciting customers who are “concerned about [their] AS/400 ERP software investment due to software industry consolidation” among JD Edwards, MAPICS, CA PRMS, BPCS, and MacPac customers.
In addition to Friedman Frontier, FOG Software Group owns several other companies that develop IBM i software, including Varsity Logistics, Viewlocity, XData Solutions, Logimax, and CORESense.
