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Progress Strikes Deal For SOA Specialist Iona
Consolidation in the service-oriented architecture arena is continuing, this time with Progress Software of Bedford, Mass., announcing that it is acquiring IONA Technologies of Dublin, Ireland.
Progress said it has agreed to acquire IONA for $4.05 per share in cash, or about $162 million. Progress said the addition of IONA's products allows it to "combine IONA's proven expertise in distributed system integration technologies with the Progress SOA portfolio."
Progress Software has been aggressive in building out its SOA portfolio through acquisitions. Previously it struck deals to purchase Actional, an SOA management/governance software provider; DataDirect, a mainframe data integration vendor; and NEON Systems, a mainframe-to-Web specialist.
Checkpoint To Acquire RFID Leader
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Checkpoint Systems, a company which specializes in shrink management software and technologies for retailers, has inked a deal to acquire OATSystems, a provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) software.
Thorofare, N.J.-based Checkpoint says it plans to integrate OATSystems' RFID-based applications with its own products to not only help retailers prevent losses due to theft, but also to improve on-shelf availability.
"With this acquisition, Checkpoint is once again redefining the scope of shrink management," Checkpoint Chief Executive Rob van der Merwe said in a statement announcing the all-cash transaction. "As our industry moves to a common EPC standard, Checkpoint with the addition of OATSystems' capabilities will now be able to offer solutions that enable retailers and their supply chains to gain deeper inventory visibility—further reducing shrink and increasing bottom-line profits by enhancing on-shelf merchandise availability for consumers."
OATSystems is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.
Lufthansa Deploys Motorola RFID
Lufthansa Technik, a provider of maintenance, repair, and overhaul services to Lufthansa and other airlines, has chosen to deploy RFID technology from Motorola to track aircraft components.
The company said it will deploy RFID tags to documents that will accompany parts used in Lufthansa's operations. Using handheld and stationary RFID readers, the company will be able to track their movement and automate data entry.
The decision to implement the RFID technology in all of its facilities in Germany followed a successful trial at its maintenance center in Hamburg.
"Using RFID means that Lufthansa no longer depends on 'line of sight' to obtain the installation information that mechanics require," Michael Scheferhoff, chairman of the Air Transportation Association (ATA) said. The ATA has been pushing for the use of RFID and the development of standards for the airline industry. "Today, the manual process involved in tracking and correctly moving a component following its disassembling means that it takes, on average, several days for it to reach the workshop.
"Our goal is to use RFID technology to reduce this to just 24 hours."
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