Waterloo, Ontario-based OpenText scooped up another business process management software company July 13 when the company acquired Dallas, Texas-based Global 360 for $260 million.

According to a statement from OpenText, its management team will provide details on the structure of the combined company during its year-end earnings briefing Aug. 10. At least from a strategy perspective, OpenText sees the two companies working hand in hand.

"Many global organizations about sixty percent--already connect their Enterprise Content Management and BPM projects under a single strategy," said John Shackleton, president and chief executive officer of OpenText, in a statement. "With the addition of Global 360, we will be able to offer organizations a complete spectrum of solutions from a strong, independent and global solutions provider."

But Real Story Group Analyst Alan Pelz-Sharpe says customers may not necessarily benefit from the combined offerings being touted in the company announcement. "This might be an acquisition that makes financial analysts and shareholders happy, but for current owners of Global 360 software and future buyers of OpenText products, it is going to take quite some time to see its whether this is truly a positive move or not," he wrote in a blog post.

In February, OpenText acquired Metastorm, a Baltimore, Md.-based BPM, business process analysis and enterprise architecture software vendor, for $182 million.

OpenText's recent acquisitions align with the current direction of the ECM industry and its increasing focus on case management. OpenText is now emerging as BPM-market contender in its own right. In a statement, OpenText Chief Technology Officer Eugene Roman said the company is committed to the roadmaps of both Global 360 and Metastorm--while providing dynamic case management that integrates ECM and BPM.

On July 11, Metastorm released a major new version of its BPM software.

For more:
- see the press release 

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