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Who Bought Whom?
Your Guide to CRM Mergers & Acquisitions!
There have been a lot of acquisitions in the CRM business! Some big. Some
Small. On this page, I will try to give you a guide to just who bought whom?
But first, let's try to examine why these acquisitions might have taken
place. Why does one company buy another?
Fill In the Gaps
One reason a software company might buy another is to fill in the gaps in
their own product offering. For example, a few years ago many growing CRM
companies decided they needed a "configuration management system" in their
lineups. So, Peoplesoft bought Calico Commerce, Pivotal bought Exactium, you
get the idea. Or, a variation on the theme, the company my buy a rival
to speed the deployment of important new capabilities to their existing
customer. Rightnow's recent purchase of Salesnet is a good example of this.
These types of acquisitions usually work out O.K. for customers on both
sides of the transaction.
We're Smarter Than They Are!
We have all done it at times, watch a company pursue a dumb strategy and
just know we could do things way better! Well, if you have a pile of money
(like some VC firms) and these "dumb" companies have seen their stock price
beaten down, we see yet another opportunity for an acquisition. Sometimes
these deals work out. More often, they don't!
Milk Those Cows!
Software is a funny business. The pain associated with changing to a new
vendor is so great, many companies will put it off as long as possible. This
opens the door for a "rollup" strategy, acquiring a number of fading,
marginalized, or distressed software developers. Then, these consolidator
vendors just sit back and milk service and maintenance fees. Sure, they
might make token upgrades every now and then but meaningful product
development usually grinds to a halt. These deals seldom work out well for
customers of the acquired company.
In the multifaceted business world there may be other reasons to make an
acquisition, but if you filter out the hype at the time of the announcement,
I think you will agree that most acquisitions are driven by one of these
reasons!
Finally, for a list of past CRM developers who are no longer with us, go
to the following page:
CRM-RIP
Oracle Corporation
Oracle bought Siebel
Siebel bought Scopus
Siebel bought BoldFish, Inc.
Siebel bought Janna Systems
Siebel bought nQuire Software
Siebel bought OnLink Technologies, Inc.
Siebel bought Paragren Technologies
Siebel bought UpShot
Oracle bought PeopleSoft
PeopleSoft bought Vantive
PeopleSoft bought Annuncio Software
PeopleSoft bought Calico Commerce
PeopleSoft bought JD Edwards
JD Edwards bought YOUcentric
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft bought Great Plains Software
Great Plains Software bought Solomon Software
Microsoft bought Navision Software
Navision Software bought Axapta
SAP
SAP bought K&V
Infor
Infor bought daly.commerce
daly.commerce bought MarketMax
Infor bought Lilly Software Associates
Infor bought Mapics
Infor bought SSA Global Technologies Inc.
SA Global bought Max International
SSA Global bought interBiz Product Group
SSA Global bought Infinium Software
Infinium Software bought Dexton Information Systems
SSA Global bought Ironside Technologies
SSA Global bought Elevon
SSA Global bought Baan
Baan bought Aurum Software
Aurum Software bought Antalys Corp.
SSA Global bought EXE Technologies, Inc.
SSA Global bought Arzoon, Inc.
SSA Global bought Marcam
SSA Global bought Boniva
SSA Global bought E.piphany
Epiphany bought Octane Software
Epiphany bought Moss Micro
Epiphany bought RightPoint
RightNow Techologies Inc.
RightNow bought Salesnet
CDC Software (chinadotcom)
CDC Software bought Pivotal
Pivotal bought Exactium
Pivotal bought Humongus
Pivotal bought MarketFirst
CDC Software bought Saratoga Systems
Maximizer Software Inc.
Maximizer bought Tracker
Maximizer bought Cognitech (SharkWare)
Frontrange Solutions Inc.
Francisco Partners bought Frontrange
Solutions
FrontRange Limited (formerly Ixchange)
Frontrange Limited bought Bendata (HEAT)
Frontrange Limited bought GoldMine
Frontrange Limited bought Salesware
Frontrange Limited bought Maestro Commerce
Sage Software
Sage bought TeleMagic
Sage bought SalesLogix
SalesLogix bought ACT!
Sage bought ACCPAC
ACCPAC bought eWare
Made2Manage Systems Inc.
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Onyx
Software
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Encompix
Inc.
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought AXIS
Computer
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Capri
Corp.
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Products
From ADS Information Systems
Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought DTR
Software International
Redi-Direct Marketing (StayinFront)
Redi-Direct Marketing bought SalesBook
Redi-Direct Marketing bought Great Elk
Exact Software
Kana Software Inc.
Kana Software bought Hipbone
Kana Software bought Connectify
Kana Software bought Broadbase
Broadbase bought Servicesoft
Broadbase bought Panop.com
Broadbase bought Rubric
Broadbase bought Decisionism
GEDYS - Intraware
GEDYS - Intraware bought CRM from TJ
Group
TJ Group bought
GEDYS - Intraware bought Relavis
Unica Corporation
Unica bought Marketsoft
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