Tower Software, gobble, gobble, munch, munch by HP

Well it is always interesting in the Vendor landscape for ECM lower left quadrant members. News today on the wires that HP are to and I quote from the RTTNews article:

"3/31/2008 6:26:26 PM Personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Tower Software, a document and records management software company based in Canberra, Australia, on Monday said they have signed a pre-bid agreement for the former to acquire Tower. The acquisition will be conducted by means of an off-market takeover bid for all of the outstanding shares of Tower. The takeover is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2008."

Full article link here.

So consolidation is still on the move and the Gartner magic sponge as it seems from the vendor shapes on the quadrant is tightening up even further.

I am not surprised at this move as the relationship between Tower Software and HP has been developing for some time, especially around what was previously know as the HP RISS solution. Tower needed to expand and needed capital to do so, but seemed to be a little behind the mark on road map and where the buying market seemed to be moving. Microsoft is on the march and there is was VC in Tower with 50+% looking to get the cash and move on. Also the available dance partners willing to take the Tower brand home for a bit of pampering were starting to dwindle with the acquisitions that had happened last year.

Smart move Martin and Brand, good luck for the future, and I am off for a Strategic review session!