EMC Corp.’s rollout of content management software could pose a threat to Costa Mesa-based FileNet Corp.
The software stems from EMC’s 2003 buy of FileNet rival Documentum Inc. It allows workers to use the normal software programs they always use,say, Microsoft Outlook or IBM Corp.’s Lotus Notes,instead of having to learn the ins and outs of Documentum.
Other content management software,including from FileNet,only give access to information formatted for their particular software.
FileNet has been battling to post better results for the just-ended first quarter.
In the fourth quarter, FileNet’s software sales were flat while revenue from services rose 12%. The company said it expects to benefit from stricter compliance rules facing public companies in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reform.
FileNet has the most market share of any software vendor in the content management market, according to market tracker International Data Corp.
EMC is best known as a supplier of computers for data storage networks. The Documentum and other buys are part of the company’s bid to gain more sales,and profits,from software.
Interchange Moving
Interchange Corp. seems to be moving at a fast pace.
About six months after the company’s public offering, Interchange detailed plans to move from Laguna Hills to Irvine.
The company, a paid Internet search provider, signed a five-year lease with The Irvine Company for 23,000 square feet of space. Interchange said it plans to move later this year.
The move “is necessary to accommodate Interchange’s planned future growth,” the company said in a statement.
Recently, Interchange hired Ian Niles as its resident research scientist, a newly created position. The company also plans to grow its European office, which it got by way of its acquisition of Inspire Infrastructure 2i AB, a Swedish Internet and wireless search technology company.
Interchange has had quite a ride on Wall Street in its short life as a public company. Its shares have traded between $7 and $32 a share.
As of last week, Interchange counted a market value of $80 million.
The shares got hammered in February after Interchange disappointed with its fourth quarter sales and warned of lower-than-expected profits for the first quarter and the rest of 2005.
Quest Settles With CA
The end of a legal scrap between Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc. and Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates International Inc. came at a good time.
The lawsuit has been hanging over Quest since 2002. Since then, Quest’s stock has fallen 18% as the company has been battling software makers on other fronts.
Quest makes software that manages databases from companies such as Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp.
The settlement cost Quest $16 million plus royalties to be paid to Computer Associates. It could have cost the company a lot more.
Quest had warned investors that if the settlement discussions didn’t result in a settlement, “We will continue to incur substantial legal expenses in the appeal of the preliminary injunction order and defense of these claims.”
In 2002, a judge had issued a restraining order against Quest preventing it from selling more copies of its software for use with IBM’s DB2 database. The software accounted for 3% of Quest’s sales, the company said.
Computer Associates charged Quest with making software with code from Platinum Technology International Inc., which Computer Associates bought in 1999. The company had alleged Quest and four ex-Platinum workers used the code in the company’s Quest Central product for DB2.
The suit also alleged various copyright violations. According to Computer Associates’ complaint, the four workers who went to Quest had worked on Platinum’s source code. They left after Computer Associates bought Platinum. Neither company admitted fault in the settlement.
In the second quarter of last year, Quest posted a $5 million charge for the loss of a contingency reserve related to the Computer Associates fight.
Standard & Poor upgraded shares of Quest to “buy” from “hold” after the settlement was detailed.
“The company had previously reserved this amount as a loss contingency,” S & P; Equity Research said. “More importantly, Quest will now be able to re-enter the market with its DB2 database management tools, potentially improving its prospects.”
CombiMatrix Inks Deal
Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp. said CombiMatrix, its biotech unit, inked a cross-licensing deal with Mountain View-based Benitec Ltd.
Under the deal, CombiMatrix gets to license Benitec intellectual property while Benitec gets to license 10 of CombiMatrix’s patents.
The patents deal with gene silencing technology, a technology that mutes the effects of certain genes in cells.
Acacia’s strategy is to acquire patents and enforce them in court if necessary.
