Event

On 14 January 2005, Troux said it would acquire the Metis product suite and North American operations of Computas of Norway. Troux did not disclose the financial details of the deal. Computas will now focus on providing knowledge solutions to the Norwegian market.

Analysis

This deal brings together two vendors that serve the high end of the fast-growing enterprise architecture tools market. Troux and Computas complement each other. Troux's strengths include detecting and synthesizing IT architecture information from a wide range of operational sources. Computas has better visualization capabilities and can represent models in a broad range of notations. Computas also has more extensive support for the business and design aspects of the architecture. This deal could produce a highly visionary enterprise architecture tool.

Troux set an aggressive delivery schedule, even though the tools' internal architectures will aid the integration. Troux plans to merge the products in two phases. The first stage, which will deliver a common repository metamodel, is scheduled for release at the end of 1Q05. The second stage, scheduled for delivery at the end of 2Q05, will provide integrated graphical user interfaces, repository applications and engines. The combined metamodel, delivered in the first phase of the merged product, will give limited additional benefits to users. If the first phase is delivered smoothly and on time, however, it will bode well for the success of the fully merged product.

Troux also must carefully manage the skill levels of its merged sales and support organization, to ensure that it does not oversell its solution and to provide high-quality service to sophisticated large customers. Troux said it will keep the Metis development team in Norway. Since Troux's product development is in Austin, Texas, Troux will have to manage this geographic split carefully. This is particularly important for the coherence of the strategy and vision of the merged product.

Recommendation: Draw on the experiences of the early adopters of the merged product as the rollout occurs.

Analytical Source: Greta James, Gartner Research

Recommended Reading and Related Research

• "Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture Tools, 4Q04" — The market for enterprise architecture tools is growing rapidly, as vendors enhance their products to support increasingly sophisticated requirements and new providers emerge. By Greta James
• "Vendor Details for the 4Q04 Enterprise Architecture Tool Magic Quadrant" — Enterprise architecture tool vendors are expanding their capabilities in response to an increasing awareness of the importance of enterprise architecture. By Greta James

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