Infor blasts Coda over poaching plan
Too early to tell if migration plans have been successful
Infor, the US-based business software consolidator, has hit out at rival
Coda’s attempts to lure away its SunSystems users.
Doug Bilsby, vice president of Infor’s operations in Europe, the Middle East
and Africa, said not a single SunSystems customer had made the switch to Coda
following the launch of Coda’s SunSystems migration plan in February.
‘The operations of certain organisations have had no impact on us. Leaving a
technology is an expensive process and it is not easy. We have seen no erosion
and are not worried about it,’ said Bilsby.
A Coda spokeswoman said the company had built excellent contacts with
customers, but that it was too early to tell if the migration plan would be
successful
‘The idea of the campaign is more about communicating with these customers
and nurturing our relationship with them so that when they come to replace their
systems they will talk to us. We see this as an 18-month/two-year process on
average as people aren’t going to replace their systems as a knee-jerk reaction
to the Infor acquisition,’ she said.
The news comes amid further upheaval in the accounting software market. Iris,
a leading UK accounting software provider, has once again had to fend off
takeover speculation following reports that the vendor’s private equity owners,
HG Capital and LDC, had slapped a £250m price tag on the business and put it up
for sale.
Since the beginning of the year, Iris has been haunted by takeover rumours.
Trade buyers Sage, Microsoft and Infor have all been touted as potential
suitors, while private equity houses Advent, Montagu and Apax have also been
linked with an Iris deal.
The latest suggestions of a takeover follow the news that Hg Capital had
conducted a beauty parade of advisers to sell Iris in March.
An Iris spokeswoman dismissed the reports of Hg Capital and LDC preparing
Iris for a sale as ‘speculation’, echoing earlier comments from Iris chief
executive Martin Leuw who affirmed that Iris was an ‘organisation with a face’
and would remain independent.
Private equity players in particular, however, have been attracted by Iris’s
steady cashflows and good growth. Iris is forecasting growth of almost 500% by
the end of the 2007/2008 financial year, with revenues expected to reach £45m.
Hg Capital, meanwhile, has been invested in Iris for five years and is likely
to be eyeing an exit from its investment. Hg Capital did not return calls for
comment.