A preliminary EU examination concluded that the merger of IBM and Telelogic could have adverse effects on competition. The EU has set a February 20 deadline to approve or reject the deal.
Our View
The EU’s moves were dictated by the fact that IBM’s Rational Requisite Pro and Telelogic’s Doors are direct competitors in the requirements management space. After the deal was announced in June, Computer Business Review’s Jason Stamper speculated that the result could put the future of ReqPro in doubt, as Doors remains the far more scalable and up to date of the two.
But for IBM, the real jewel in the crow was probably the System Architect tools that in turn came to Telelogic through its acquisition of Popkin Software back in April 2005. It’s a piece that’s long been missing from IBM’s Rational portfolio. Telelogic has other smaller pieces that could round out Rational’s offerings in areas ranging from embedded device modeling to software product lifecycle management.
Obviously, delay or rejection of the deal would certainly crimp IBM’s plans. Depending on the EU’s findings, Telelogic might be able to get away with some spinoffs to pass muster, with the obvious candidate being doors. Under that scenario, IBM might not necessarily have the world’s best or most current requirements tool, but it would get the other pieces that would fill out its stack.
Obviously, all this remains quite speculative. But it pays to keep in mind that, while Doors is clearly the brass ring for requirements, it is not that much more up to date than ReqPro. In fact, the field itself is undergoing vast transition as alternative methodologies, such as agile, are driving lighter weight alternatives that could prove the true growth spots of what passes for the requirements management market space.
