Metastorm, a leading provider of business process management (BPM) software for modelling, automating and controlling processes, and CommerceQuest Inc, a provider of scalable integration and business process management solutions, have announced a merger under the Metastorm brand, clearly differentiating Metastorm as the breakaway vendor in the BPM marketplace.
The combined company will provide customers with the innovation of a pure-play BPM provider, the scale and stability of a larger company, and the most complete BPM software suite on the market today.
Metastorm solutions are supported in SA by master distributor Software Futures, in collaboration with various alliance partners.
"We are very excited by the possibilities that this merger now presents for our South African clients," reports John Pratt, Manager of the Best Practices division at Software Futures.
"While workflow solutions and various customised or proprietary 'so-called' BPM solutions have been around for some time in our market, we are seeing a more mature approach towards business process management in our client interactions. Organisations are starting to recognize the merit of the 'round-trip' BPM concepts and rapid development and deployment possible with this technology. We believe the CommerceQuest acquisition emphasizes Metastorm's dedication to remain thought leaders in the pure-play BPM segment and integration of their solutions will provide an enhanced, robust, enterprise solution."
The expanded Metastorm BPM software suite will address all human- and system-based process challenges - regardless of platform, scale, complexity, or existing infrastructure - and delivers proven industry solutions for roundtrip process improvement. This powerful combination of two market leaders is expected to create the largest pure-play BPM software provider worldwide with more than 1 200 customers in 41 countries.
"Our strategies are 100% aligned and we are well positioned to be the breakaway vendor in the BPM market," stated Bob Farrell, president and CEO of Metastorm.
"Proven process and integration technology, J2EE innovation, high profile distribution channels, complementary industry coverage, and highly skilled resources make CommerceQuest the perfect match for Metastorm and will expand the breadth and depth of our company to meet the complete spectrum of enterprise business process management needs facing organisations today."
Strategic value proposition
This combination:
* Creates the largest independent software vendor focused exclusively on enterprise business process management with more than 1 200 customers in 41 countries.
* Creates the market's most comprehensive BPM software suite to support all ranges of business process management initiatives across mid-to-large size enterprises on both Unix and Microsoft platforms.
* Increases resources for technology innovation, market coverage, partner collaboration and customer support.
* Broadens and strengthens key vertical market offerings including retail and financial services.
* Enhances Metastorm's business by accelerating growth, market share, and product innovation and increasing overall shareholder value.
* Gives Metastorm a dominant leadership position in the worldwide BPM market.
"CommerceQuest has built a strong market presence based on its ability to deliver highly-scalable BPM solutions that excel at integrating complex systems and streamlining core business processes," stated Mike Forster, chairman and CEO of CommerceQuest. "The combination of Metastorm's leading BPM market position and human-based BPM offerings and CommerceQuest's process-driven, service-oriented integration capabilities will provide customers with a complete solution for all process management challenges.
"The new, expanded Metastorm becomes the first company to offer organisations a single solution to meet all of their enterprise-wide BPM needs and remains the clear market leader."
Bob Farrell will continue to serve as president and CEO of Metastorm and Mike Forster, current CEO of CommerceQuest, and Michael Zisman, Managing Director of Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq: ICGE) and CommerceQuest board member, will be elected to the Metastorm board of directors. As part of the transaction, Metastorm has secured additional funding from its newly combined investor base, demonstrating continued confidence in the company and its position in a hot market segment.
"With the growing recognition of value of BPM solutions in our market we believe that this merger will add a level of investment comfort for the larger South African businesses. Metastorm have been highly successful in the UK and are penetrating large accounts in the US in recent months. We are confident that we will emulate this success in our market," adds Software Futures.
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