Software AG Buys WebMethods for $546M

Germany's Software AG acquires WebMethods to make an SOA powerhouse.

Software AG has announced that it will acquire WebMethods in a deal worth $546 million.

Software AG is Europes largest systems software and SOA (service-oriented architecture) software provider; WebMethods also focuses on SOA and Web-services technology, as well as overall, enterprise-application-integration technology and business-process management.

Together, the companies bring an expanded product portfolio to a global customer base of more than 4,000 organizations and 100 partners in complementary geographies around the globe, Software AG officials said. In particular, Software AG will more than double its customer base in North America. This combination also brings complementary industry strengths and minimal customer overlap, providing immediate and mutual access to additional customer segments, particularly in financial services, manufacturing and the public sector.

Resource Library:

Read more here about a recent WebMethods acquisition.

The combined companies portfolio spans SOA governance and enablement, business process management and business activity monitoring, application integration and legacy modernization capabilities.

"This is huge news in the SOA space, because the combination of Software AG and WebMethods is now second only to IBM in terms of both traditional integration and SOA capabilities," said Jason Bloomberg, an analyst with ZapThink, an SOA market analysis company. "Software AG gets a much stronger North American presence, and they can now leave the likes of TIBCO and Oracle in their dust. Mark my words; Larry Ellison is not going to be happy about this news."

Meanwhile, Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO of Software AG, based in Darmstadt, Germany, said in a statement, "This acquisition clearly positions Software AG as one of the global leaders in SOA and BPM. Combining our product portfolio and sales team with those of WebMethods gives us a major foothold in the critical North American market. WebMethods Fabric product family combined with Software AGs Crossvision SOA suite will provide an end-to-end SOA solution that allows our combined client base to more effectively create, manage and govern their business processes. "Together we will be creating truly advanced SOA solutions. We look forward to working with WebMethods talented team of professionals throughout their organization."

David Mitchell, president and CEO of WebMethods, based in Fairfax, Va., said in a statement, "By joining forces with Software AG, were able to fully capitalize on the highly differentiated and market-leading position that weve established for our products within the business integration, SOA and BPM markets. Customers will benefit significantly from the greatly expanded product and service portfolio that we will be able to offer them. This combination will provide additional opportunities through our shared partner network, our combined geographical strengths and our complementary business models."

Ronald Schmelzer, also with ZapThink, said he believes the acquisition makes "a ton of sense" for Software AG. Indeed, Schmelzer said he sees it as "a market-share play and a SOA play entirely. First, the company further bolsters [its] SOA infrastructure capabilities by adding greater capabilities in the integration, process and governance areas. They also inherit the advanced capabilities of Infravio for registry/repository and metadata management that webMethods also saw as high value. But most importantly, this acquisition gives Software AG the visibility in front of potential customers and partners that they didnt have on their own. The company is now a major force in the SOA industry and can easily compete against any other market player in the industry. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new mega-global brand?"

Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis in Web services.

Reader Comments: Software AG Buys WebMethods for $546M >>> Be the FIRST to comment on this article!

>>> More Web Services, Web 2.0 & SOA Articles          >>> More By Darryl K. Taft