Business Objects (Quote)today moved to fill a big hole in
its business intelligence (BI) software portfolio, aiming to acquire
enterprise performance management (EPM) software maker Cartesis S.A. for
$300 million in cash.
Cartesis’ product portfolio triggers financial reporting, statement
consolidations and planning tasks. The Spanish company, which raked in $125
million in sales in the last 12 months, recently began offering customers a
governance, risk and compliance application to help meet corporate
accounting regulations.
The move is Business Objects’ strategic counter to Oracle’s (Quote)$3.3 billion purchase
of Hyperion Solutions, which was largely considered the top EPM provider in the market.
Oracle, which had little traction in EPM before the deal, essentially
vaulted into competition with Business Objects and Cognos (Quote).
EPM is considered a core part of a complete BI suite to help company
managers assess the health of their businesses, as well as the performance of
employees. Business managers such as CFOs use EPM to achieve deeper
penetration and understanding of the company’s fiscal health, and adapt
quickly to market conditions.
Business Objects CEO John Schwarz told internetnews.com Cartesis is
the next logical step in fortifying the company’s enterprise performance
solutions for the CFO.
In its quest to become a household name in EPM, Business Objects acquired
budgeting and planning software provider SRC Software two years ago and
profitability management specialist ALG Software last year.
Cartesis’ financial reporting and consolidation applications flesh out the
company’s EPM suite, Schwarz said.
“The ability to consolidate financial information using regulatory reporting
and to bring financial data from divisions and operating units of the
company together under one umbrella was the piece that was missing, and it
was the one area that used to give Hyperion an edge over us in this
performance-management market,” Schwarz said in a phone interview Monday
morning.
“We are now fully armed and ready to go and do battle with anybody in the
marketplace.”
This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.