Business Intelligence software developer Business Objects announced Sept. 6 an agreement to acquire Fuzzy Informatik, its second “data quality” purchase in 12 months.
Business Objects, with dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, plans to combine Fuzzy Informatiks data quality software with its own information management portfolio of products to give customers the ability to apply data quality processes to any customer, product or region-specific data, company officials said. The combined software will also be included in integration kits for SAP and Siebel applications, an on-demand address cleansing service, and vertical applications for financial services and postal services.
Data cleansing, also known as data scrubbing, is the process of removing or amending data in a database that is incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted or duplicated. The software helps companies avoid typical data quality problems such as incorrect titles or names and wrong postal addresses.
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Business Objects acquired privately held Armstrong Laing, a leading profitability management and activity-based costing software developer, in September 2006 for $56 million, and FirstLogic in February 2006 for $69 million.
Another of Business Objects notable acquisitions was the $40 million purchase in 2005 of Infommersion, which developed an application that presents business intelligence data as interactive charts, graphs and dashboards. The data can also be packaged in document formats that include Adobe Systems PDF and Microsofts PowerPoint presentation tool.
The terms of the Fuzzy Informatik deal, expected to close in October, were undisclosed.
“The acquisition of Fuzzy adds over 13 years of data quality expertise in a strategic market to our portfolio,” said Business Objects Vice President and General Manager for Central Europe Joerg Limberg. “By leveraging Fuzzys talent and know-how we can deliver even stronger product offerings to our current customers around the globe while strengthening our data quality presence in Europe.”
Fuzzy Informatik, a privately held company with about 50 employees, was founded in 1994 as a spinoff of the former Daimler-Benz, with software developed to cleanse that companys data. Fuzzy now counts others in the automotive field—DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Mazda Motor—as customers. Other customers include Cortal Consors, Deutsche Post and O2.
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