On August 3, 2006 MRO Software announced that it has agreed to be acquired by IBM.
So, what the impact on Life-Sciences Customers? I think this is great news. The combination of MRO’s deep Enterprise and IT Asset Management knowledge and IBM’s strength in integration software and services allows the combined company to provide a complete Asset Management solution to the Life-Science Market.
The Life-Sciences industry is facing an increased focus on asset utilization stemming from rising healthcare costs and unprecedented economic and socio-political pressures. As a result, companies are seeking ways to consolidate and streamline asset management, both operational and IT-related, to increase asset utilization. The industry is transitioning from a “Maintenance Management” to an “Asset Management” paradigm, including predictive maintenance, increased asset reliability, and condition based monitoring.
“This is exciting news for MRO Software and for our customers: we can combine expertise, leverage our focus and offer an even more complete and global solution to our customers in the Life Sciences Industry. Technologies as RFID, integration of the different operational systems with an asset-and service management-centric approach fits very well with the Service Oriented Architecture capabilities IBM is offering. Combining industrial, operational and IT assets and related services in a regulated environment will increase efficiency and differentiate the combined offering” commented Eric Luyer, Industry & Solutions Marketing for Life Sciences & Healthcare markets of MRO Software.
While vendors like ORACLE(IFS), SAP and Infor (DataStream) propose a monolithic approach to Asset Management, MRO Software continues to provide best in class Enterprise Asset Management solutions and leads the Gartner Magic Quadrant.The acquisition by IBM will propel MRO software to fully realize its “Rational Suite” approach the Asset Management while increasing integration capabilities with key Financial and Knowledge Management vendors though IBM’s Software and Services.
As I mentioned in an earlier article, there is no one size fit’s all when it comes to software. But if you are serious about managing your Industrial and IT assets, Maximo is still your best choice. If you are still unsure, remember the saying, “no one gets fired for hiring IBM”.