HP looking at acquiring Autonomy

The consolidation continues. Since the FAST acquisition by Microsoft a few years back, people have asked who we thought might acquire Autonomy; and we always decided they were almost too big to be a target, that Autonomy would be the surviving company.

It seems that HP, which apparently just rolled out its FAST implementation to its public web site, is the surprising answer.

Quick take: in a way, it makes sense in a few ways:

1. Hardware is getting cheaper and cheaper; being the largest vendor in a shrinking market isn't where you really want to be.

2. HP has long been moving to a services delivery company - look at the 2008 acquisition of EDS. If there is a search technology that typically has huge implementation projects with teams of expensive consultants, it's Autonomy.

3. Company have Chief Risk Officers, who handle compliance, have the budget to buy software to keep fellow executives out of trouble with the government. What better prospects to have?

Wow.. I'm still a bit shocked; I feel like I must have overslept and that I'm having a strange dream. But my dog seems pretty sure it's real.

Stay tuned, and let us know what you think!

/s/Miles

Comments

[Avi Rappoport]

It makes sense to me too, as HP is going into enterprise services, IBM and Oracle already have high-concept search offerings. And Autonomy has a lot more than just search.
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Good points there Avi.. whether the cultures blend is another story I always saw Mike Lynch as as more of a Larry Ellison person than a Bill & Dave /s/Miles