IssueAlert Emerging Technologies ~ October, 2004

Harris Computer Systems recently acquired the assets of IMSoftech, Inc. from Sensus Metering Systems North America, Inc (“Sensus”). According to a press release from the company, Harris now owns all of the Utility Billing, Financial Management and related software that IMSofTech has developed over the last 20 years. Harris will immediately be responsible for the support of the more than 390 customers who are currently using these solutions. Harris now services over 1,750 customers throughout North America, the majority of which are in the United States.

For background purposes, IMSoftech provides billing and enterprise management software to the small to mid-range utility. It was previously owned by metering/automated metering company Sensus.

This marks the fifth acquisition that Harris has undertaken in the last two years. For a better understanding of how Harris is able to achieve such an aggressive number of purchases, one must first understand the company's ownership structure.

The Constellation Connection
Harris is a member of the Constellation Software Inc. group of companies. Constellation Software is a rapidly growing conglomerate of vertical market software companies. The company is quite reminiscent of a venture capital firm. Constellation's growth is based on a strategy of identifying promising vertical market software firms, acquiring them, and then integrating them into the Constellation family while building on their fundamental strengths to help them succeed.

A visit to Constellation Software's web site (www.csisoftware.com) also reminds one of a venture capital firm. The company lists its acquisition criteria, and invites inquiries from companies that meet its criteria. Unlike a venture capital firm, however, the company utilizes a “buy-and-hold” strategy.

Harris was Constellation's second significant acquisition back in 1996. According to Jeff Bender, President of Harris Computer Systems, the relationship has been quite beneficial to the Company, its employees and its customers. “Constellation Software provides operational benchmarking and best practices, long term strategic planning assistance, as well as, access to capital when required, while at the same time leaving each company to operate independently,” said Bender.

Growth Via Acquisition
In June 2004, Harris acquired Cayenta, another Canadian firm that has been providing municipalities, utilities, cooperatives and educational institutions the tools required to improve customer service, revenue, and operational efficiency, towards running better businesses on behalf of their constituents. Harris created a new utility segment for the Cayenta offering to target as a result of the acquisition.

In March 2004, Harris purchased substantially all of the assets related to Computer Software, Inc.'s Software Division. As a result of the sale, Harris now owns all of the Utility Billing, Fund Accounting, and related software that Computer Software, Inc. (CSI) had developed over the last twenty years. Harris is now responsible for the support of the more than 130 CSI customers who utilize these solutions.

In May of last year Harris purchased substantially all of the assets related to Manatron Inc.'s Financials Product Line. As a result of the sale, Harris now owns all of the Fund Accounting, Payroll, Utility Billing and related software that Manatron had assembled over the last fifteen years. Harris is now responsible for the support of the more than 500 Manatron customers who utilize these solutions.

In October of 2002 Harris acquired MCS Spectrum (MCS), a provider of software solutions for utilities and local government. The product suite of MCS included a customer information system (CIS), a financial management system, as well as local government software. Harris now operates and manages the 350 utility and local government installations.

Growth Via Sales
Not only is Harris growing via acquisition, it is also signing up new customers. Just two weeks ago, Harris announced that it has entered into an agreement with Alameda Power & Telecom ("Alameda P&T"), a California-based utility. Under the terms of the contract, Harris will implement its NorthStar solution (version 6.0) and transition Alameda from their existing systems. Alameda P&T is scheduled to be live on NorthStar v6.0 in the third quarter of 2005.

Alameda Power & Telecom, a department of the City of Alameda, is a municipal utility in the Bay Area. It provides electricity, cable TV, and high-speed Internet services to the citizens of Alameda. Founded in 1887, Alameda Power & Telecom is locally controlled by the City's Public Utilities Board. Approximately 130 employees provide services to 45,000 customers representing a population of approximately 79,000 throughout the 12.8 square mile service territory.

Conclusion
So is Harris' acquisition of IMSoftech an indication that there will be a near-term consolidation among CIS vendors? According to Bender, the answer is yes. “The CIS market dynamics will force this to happen,” said Bender. “Time lines in the CIS market are generally much longer than other industries. Therefore we do not believe that there would necessarily be a significant increase in the natural consolidation trend that we have witnessed over the past few years. We would, however, expect to see one or two additional acquisition transactions occur over the next twelve months. We are encouraged by the recent consolidation activity that we have been seeing in this market space. We believe that a fewer number of financially strong and market focused companies will result in better applications and better future products for utilities.”

It is quite interesting to see how the consolidations occur. UtiliPoint has actually witnessed some market movement towards a utility metering/billing combination. However, Sensus, a metering company, divested its billing product line to Harris, who has an alliance in place with Canadian-based Olameter. In the larger segment of investor-owned utilities, vendors are beginning to build operational alliances with CIS/billing companies partnering and/or acquiring additional applications such as work management, outage management, asset management, and the like. The next year will provide some exciting news as the utility-IT application mix begins to re-define itself.