Following the recent annoucement Open Horizons posed some questions to Christoph Stoica (Micro Focus) about the planned fusion of Micro Focus and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software.
Question: Open Horizons.
Customers react to announcements about a merger of two enterprises often with scepticism and uncertainty. What does the announced deal mean between Micro to Focus and the software section of Hewlett Packard Enterprise now specifically mean for customers and partners?
Answer: Christoph Stoica.
First of all, I would like to emphasise that the deal is quite extraordinary – it is a relatively rare example of a British company buying U.S. technology assets. With the planned merger of the software division of Hewlett Packard (HPE), Micro Focus steps into the top rank of European software makers. The new global presence of the company and the associated importance is illustrated by it's recent inclusion in the British blue-chip FTSE 100 index. Our customers can therefore rest assured that we will continue to work on software innovation for both traditional and emerging IT market segments.
Open Horizons:
What will change in concrete terms for the customers? Do we have to get accustomed to a new company name?
Christoph Stoica:
No, even after the expected closure of the deal in the third quarter of 2017, the new company will operate under the name of Micro Focus. The combined company will still be led by Micro Focus executives with Kevin Loosemore as the executive chairman. With the merger of the two companies, we will triple our sales, as well as the staff. This creates the necessary scale and financial strength to drive software innovation across both traditional and emerging IT market segments and at the same time to help our customers, effectively to complement the existing infrastructure, leveraging their business logic and data along with next-generation technologies to innovate in new ways with the lowest possible risk. The newly created, advanced portfolio offers customers additional breadth and depth across IT Operations Management, Software Delivery & Test, Enterprise Security, Information Management & Governance and Big Data Analytics. We are thus able to offer more comprehensive solutions to deliver richer solutions that effectively bridge existing IT infrastructure with emerging technologies to meet those business demands.
Open Horizons:
What are the implications of the proposed merger to the long-term corporate strategy?
Christoph Stoica:
The planned merger with HPE software is in line with our recent acquisitions of Serena Software earlier this year and The Attachmate Group almost 2 years ago. Our strategy remains unchanged - we will also continue to invest in the development of established and proven products that our customers appreciated. We will continue to help our customers remain innovative without risks and build bridges for the future.