Quickie: Arena acquires Onmify as PLM consolidates

Arena Solutions announced via Twitter that it has acquired Omnify Software. Arena’s PLM and quality management solutions target high tech and medical device companies, offering everything from bill of material (BOM, where the company started) to collaboration and change management. Omnify’s PLM solutions also target the electronics and medical device markets but expand into aerospace and defense, and telecommunications.

Both companies have always had a cloud focus and most recently created value propositions around improving the odds in new product development and new product introduction.

Arena CEO Craig Livingston said of the acquisition, “Both Arena and Omnify share a long history of success in the PLM market with a strong customer orientation and a vision to help companies achieve their manufacturing goals. We welcome and look forward to joining forces with Omnify’s talented and experienced staff and their customers.”

Omnify Software President Chuck Cimalore said, “While we have been a very profitable company for many years, we recognize the need to accelerate our growth and respond to market conditions. We evaluated numerous options with the goal of finding a partner who appreciates what we have built and shares our vision of the future. With Arena, not only will that goal be met but together, we will continue to build an industry leader that can meet the requirements of a wide range of customers.”

The companies didn’t announce how or when the product sets would be integrated but did say that “Omnify’s employees will continue to work with customers from the company’s Andover office” and that Arena will “maintain support for Omnify’s family of products while leveraging the combined experience of both companies to accelerate development of future products and provide a path forward for the combined customer base”.

So what does it all mean? Arena has been expanding internationally after getting an infusion of cash late last year. Adding the Omnify team gives it a significant boost in resources, more/new industry experience and the ability to present a larger and unified front in competitive engagements. Sometimes it makes sense for former adversaries to join forces to fight the big guys. And make no mistake: Arena and Omnify target the small- to medium-sized businesses that most respond the a cloud PLM message — and that’s exactly where the big PLM vendors are going, too. In a world where PLM needs to come in flavors to suit all IT profiles (full cloud, on-prem and something in between), combining resources makes sense.

It’s not clear what’s going to happen to overlapping products, or what will/won’t migrate to what technology stack. TBD.

No financial details were announced, and it sounds like a done deal.