Blog: David Loshin

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Informatica To Acquire Similarity Systems

As might have been predicted, last week Informatica announced that it was acquiring UK-based Similarity Systems, a provider of data quality tools. Similarity, itself recently in the acquisition business, must have long appeared to be a suitable candidate for Informatica, having watched IBM swallow up DQ and ETL tools vendor Ascential (hear more about that one in my interview with Scott McNabb!) early in 2005. As I discussed back when Firstlogic announced their (later aborted) sale to Pitney-Bowes, it has become fashionable for information movement companies to embed a data quality solution.

The announcement is good news for both Similarity and for Informatica. Similarity Systems is probably the current thought leader among European Data Quality tools vendors, having adopted a more process-oriented, full-cycle approach to information quality improvement. Informatica, long able to provide a full data quality solution, now acquires some of the pieces missing from its repertoire, along with additional focused expertise and potential for some degree of market expansion.

The next question: how will the acquisition affect Informatica's relationships with Firstlogic and Trillium?

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