Harte-Hanks acquires data profiling leader Avellino Technologies

Harte-Hanks Inc has announced that it has acquired Avellino Technologies Ltd, a leading provider of data profiling technology. The company further announced that it is combining Avellino`s operations with the Trillium Software division of Harte-Hanks Inc.

Integrating the Trillium Software System and the Avellino Discovery solution signifies a shift in the industry from separate point solutions for data quality and data profiling, to a single solution enabling companies to implement enterprise information asset management.

Joining these two "best of breed" solutions allows organisations, for the first time, to define, assess, improve and monitor how well data meets the needs of enterprise business processes.

Phillip Howard, analyst for Bloor Research, said: "We have two literally best-of-breed vendors getting together. One hesitates to say that any acquisition is a match made in heaven, but this looks about as close to it as we are likely to get."

Financial terms of the acquisition, which took place on 27 February, were not disclosed. Harte-Hanks will offer Trillium Software and Avellino Discovery as standalone products and as an integrated solution within the Trillium Software System. Founded in 1997, Avellino Technologies is located in Aldermaston, UK.

"Acquiring the industry`s leading data profiling solution will bring immediate value to our customers," said Richard Hochhauser, president and chief executive officer of Harte-Hanks. "Harte-Hanks Trillium Software division and Avellino have recently partnered on Fortune 500 customers to provide comprehensive insight into their most valuable asset -- their data -- and decrease the costs associated with the complex process of data integration, a vital step in obtaining a unified view of each customer.

"While Avellino`s customer base and revenues are smaller than those of Trillium, we believe that the combination of these two data capabilities will enhance the future prospects for this business," Hochhauser continued. "We do not expect this transaction to have any impact on earning per share in 2004."

"Generating increased value from data assets has become a top priority for large enterprises, and IT executives are shifting their attention towards how they can best maintain accurate and up-to-date data for all of their enterprise uses," said Ted Friedman, principal analyst, of Gartner. "Data profiling is a natural complement to data integration and data quality management best practices in helping to achieve these goals."

Avellino Discovery is used worldwide by many blue-chip corporations, among them Abbey National, BT, Co-operative Insurance Services, EDS, Ford Financial Europe, UK Ministry of Defence, Old Mutual, RAC and Sun Life of Canada.

"Market demands make this combination of data quality and profiling highly desirable for customers," said Tony Rodriguez, founder and chief executive officer of Avellino Technologies. "This event also fulfils my vision for the proliferation of Discovery on a global scale, which Harte-Hanks can now make a reality."

Said Mark Cooper, director of MigrationWare, sole distributor of Avellino and Trillium Software in SA: "We are delighted with the synthesis of these two brands - the result of which now positions them as the leaders in data quality management. As the distributor of both Avellino and Trillium Software, MigrationWare is now empowered to provide a holistic and forceful product offering, increasing data value across all lines of business management systems and assisting companies with current legislative compliance requirements." For further information, kindly visit www.migrationware.com or www.trilliumsoftware.com.