Guy Creese (Burton Group) blogged about the Tower Software acquisition by HP. Interesting move by HP. :
There’s a SharePoint in every story … “The addition of Tower also is expected to enable HP Software to address the growing Microsoft SharePoint compliance and e-discovery opportunities.”
Hewlett-Packard announced today that it was buying Tower Software, an Australian document and records management company.
Some interesting quotes in the press release:
- “The deal will enable HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic discovery and compliance software market.”
- “The addition of Tower also is expected to enable HP Software to address the growing Microsoft SharePoint compliance and e-discovery opportunities.”
Translated, that means that HP is buying it for both tactical and strategic reasons. Tactically, buying Tower Software will increase HP’s revenue by allowing it to sell a more complete solution (Tower TRIM Context and the HP Integrated Archive Platform are already integrated). Strategically, buying Tower Software will connect HP to the SharePoint ecosystem, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Startups/small companies are selling solutions that fill gaps within SharePoint, and veteran providers (e.g., EMC/Documentum, Open Text, Tower Software) are integrating with SharePoint as a way to connect to information worker workflows.
This is yet another example of the silos of yesteryear (imaging systems that were separate from document management systems that were separate from records management systems, etc.) all toppling in a movement towards a more lifecycle approach.
Source: HP Buying Tower Software
