Hyperion Solutions Corp. has predicted its imminent acquisition of Rochester Mich.-based data cleansing applications firm Upstream Software will be a win-win situation for everyone concerned. It’s a perfect fit for both companies.Godfrey Sullivan>Text
“It’s a perfect fit for both companies and I see our customers as only benefiting from the alliance,” Godfrey Sullivan, president and chief executive of Santa Clara, Calif-based Hyperion told IT World Canada Sunday at his company’s annual global Solution 2006 user conference currently on in Las Vegas.
The acquisition, he said, would “bring together the best of both worlds.”
At least one analyst agrees with this prognosis.
The merger – by unifying both companies’ offerings under one umbrella – will result in substantial cost savings, according to Sara Braunstein, a research analyst with the Robert Frances Group in Westport, Conn. This consolidation, she said, would benefit both companies’ customers.
Hyperion and privately held Upstream already share more than 200 common customers. “These are very interesting times,” said Braunstein. “A lot of developers are jumping on the consolidation bandwagon. We’ll wait and see who’ll be left standing.”
Founded in 2000, Upstream’s diverse clientele includes such well known brands as Honeywell, Maple Leaf Foods and Unisys. The company’s WebLink DM application helps clients to ensure the accuracy of information they collect and feed into their business production management systems.
Hyperion, a developer of business intelligence (BI) and business performance management (BPM) software, is currently working on improvements to its flagship BPM product System 9 which it unveiled last year.
Some 11,000 customers in more than 45 countries rely on Hyperion products to collect, organize and analyze data. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based firm generated profits of US$703 million in 2005.
Rich Clayton, vice-president of product marketing at Hyperion said his company’s strong business intelligence background “meshes well” with Upstream’s offerings. “Upstream clients have been using Hyperion for their BI needs for years.”
Clayton said financial data quality management is a relatively “underserved” segment of the industry and companies offering a one-stop BI and data cleansing package are rare.
As of press time, Hyperion had not divulged the expected cost of the acquisition.
The deal is expected to close the deal sometime mid-May, according to Phyllis Davidson, executive director of communications for Hyperion.
In a recent survey, Cambridge, Mass.-based analyst firm, Forrester Research predicted that by this year 2006 data quality management would burgeon into a US$407 million industry.
Analysts say the rapid growth of this market has been partly triggered by stricter compliance regulations and enforcement.
“Financial companies are realizing that if their numbers are wrong, people could loose their savings or their jobs,” said Braunstein. “If that happens heads of these companies face law suits or possible jail terms.”
