Software AG Acquires IDS Scheer To Finalize Its Five-Year Restructuring Plan

Software AG continues to stay the course on its five-year turnaround plan. After stabilizing its legacy application business — mostly by replacing its former integration offering with the webMethods technology stack it acquired in 2007 and successfully establishing a new Software AG brand — its acquisition of IDS Scheer will fix the one remaining pressing issue: Software AG's professional and consulting services. While IDS Scheer strongly positions itself around the ARIS product line, which is a leading business process analysis and enterprise architecture tool, its main contribution to Software AG will be its consulting practice. Taken together, the webMethods business line, the IDS Scheer ARIS product family, and the consulting practice will not only turn Software AG into a leading BPM vendor with vertical industry understanding, but it will also change the scene for every vendor that currently partners with IDS Scheer or Software AG. To really leapfrog the competition, Software AG should now think about its next strategic move: buying into the IT management software or business intelligence market.