Tibco Buying Business-Process Firm In U.K.

Tibco Software is buying a U.K. business-process software firm, Staffware plc, for $217 million in an effort to improve Tibco's business-process-capture and -automation suite.

The move marks the growing role of business-process management as part of enterprise integration. IBM, WebMethods, and other middleware vendors have recently emphasized their ability to implement business processes across systems that rely on their middleware for message and data exchange.

The acquisition of Staffware would supply "immediate additional reach into new and emerging markets," says Vivek Ranadive, CEO of Tibco. Specifically, Ranadive says, Tibco would get entry to the retail, banking, insurance, and telecom industries as well as government buyers.

Staffware had been considering bolder moves into the U.S. market before receiving the Tibco offer, Staffware chief executive John O'Connell says.

The Staffware board has agreed to Tibco's offer and recommended Staffware shareholders sell to Tibco.

Tibco spokesmen say the firm was seeking to create a mix of middleware that addresses traditional IT concerns and the needs of business users "through a complementary mix of Tibco's business integration technology and Staffware's business-process-management solutions."

The spokesman also say the acquisition would also help Tibco do more cross-selling of products to its customer base and expand into Europe and Asia.