Clock ticking on Infor loyalty oath

Computer Reseller News has this amusing piece noting that Infor partners have been given until December 1 to clear their shelves of competing products. Write your own joke about intra-Infor product competition.

Lots of delicious quotes and anecdotes in this story, but here's my favorite:

Another partner who has received the letter said he and others are trying to get a look at the vendor's new reseller contract to better evaluate the situation.

So we want you to promise total exclusivity and loyal devotion to us, and in return, we'll get you a copy of your contract real soon now!

Very good analysis of PEG-funded graveyard activity

The redoubtable Jim Shepherd and his team at AMR Research have published a research note that lays out a nice overview of the motivations and activity of private equity groups like Golden Gate Capital in the ERP Graveyard market. It appears to be available to the general public here - highly recommended.

He concludes that the most logical exit for Golden Gate investors, for example, might well be a sale to SAP. But I'd prefer their Redwood Shores competitor - because of course, you could then call the company Inforacle. Take a look at their logo - they've already got the big red O.

Infor: No time to diet

As the powerful digestive juices of Golden Gate Capital complete their work on erstwhile competitor SSA Global, the ever-expanding Infor let slip that it also found time to acquire Extensity and Systems Union Group - adding more financial and reporting applications to the stew.

But the real headline seems to be that Infor now has combined revenues of $2.1 billion, which as the press release helpfully notes, is "more than Infor's two largest competitors combined in its target markets." Someone in the Microsoft legal department might want to alert Neelie Kroes (heir to the Brussels throne vacated by Mario Monti), if only to throw her off their scent for a while.

One other fun note on the Infor press release - the largest paragraph by far is devoted to a description of the various credit facilities used in the deals, and the smorgasbord of bankers and lawyers who continue to feed at the Infor trough.

Battle of the MS-PEGGIES is over

Well, that was quick. Seems the idea of Private Equity Group (PEG)-funded takeover shops based on Microsoft technology (MS-PEG, get it?) was so compelling that its two leading practicioners have rushed into each other's arms. Technically, it's Made2Manage (Capri, DTR, ADS, Cimnet, AXIS, Encompix, and most recently Onyx) who is acquiring Intuitive (SupplyWorks, Relevant/INFIMACS).

Also disappointingly, this breaks M2M's streak of acquiring vendors with the letter X in the name.

So we're down to one MS-PEGGY. Sigh. I had such hopes for the acronym. I guess this just begs the question - who will be M2M's Kermit? Is Infor still hungry?

This all stopped making sense for customers a long time ago. Now it's clearly down to the economics of milking revenue streams and eliminating overhead - which is a decidedly short-term proposition, with an eye toward a financial exit. So I repeat, it begs the question: As customers get more and more worried, and defect to (ahem) more compelling options from the world of open source, who's going to buy these things after the attrition?

Update: Here's Managing Automation on the deal, which suggests the purchase price was somewhere in the $40 millions, nearly 4x revenue.

M2CRM

So the MS-PEGGY managing Made2Manage has entered a white knight bid for Onyx CRM. Good news for the Onyx board, who didn't really like CDC's offer and subsequent behavior. Managing Automation coverage here, local Seattle angle here.

But get this from the Onyx CEO. I've got to hope she was misquoted somehow:

With stronger monetary support from Battery Ventures and Thoma Cressey, the deal would make Onyx a larger player in the business, Anderson said. Customers need to have competition in the realm of enterprise product lines.

"I think that this kind of consolidation ... is very good for clients because clients need choices," she said.

Umm... don't rollups like the MS-PEGGIES give clients fewer choices?