Sensing a business opportunity in Hewlett-Packard's current turmoil over its Autonomy acquisition, OpenText is offering Autonomy software owners the chance to trade in those products for OpenText's competing enterprise information management (EIM) applications.
OpenText will swap product licenses for free under what it called its "compelling and complimentary offer." Lubor Ptacek, OpenText strategic marketing vice president, said in an interview that the "seat for seat" license-swap offer is being made both to direct-sale customers and through OpenText's channel partners.
"These technologies are strategically important, and we want to offer customers a safe harbor," Ptacek said.
[Related: HP CEO Meg Whitman: 10 Shocking Statements On Autonomy]
Last week HP said it would take an $8.8 billion charge against earnings for what it described as the reduced value for Autonomy for which it paid $11.1 billion last year. HP has charged that it was duped into paying too much for Autonomy because of what it described as "accounting improprieties."
"We want to help Autonomy customers concerned with uncertainty about the future," said OpenText President and CEO Mark Barrenechea, in a statement. "With the OpenText trade-in offer, we're providing an opportunity for a simple switch to OpenText software from Autonomy software, with no increase to a customer's current software costs, but with a clear and confident path to future value and more innovation."
Ptacek said the offer applies to a broad range of OpenText's products, which will be matched to customers' comparable Autonomy products. Businesses and organizations that own Autonomy's Interwoven iManage products, for example, can trade in those licenses for OpenText's Web Experience Management and eDOCS software, respectively, the vendor said. And OpenText's Records Management application is being offered as a substitute for Autonomy's Meridio, MDY, iLumen and former Iron Mountain products.
Customers will pay maintenance fees on the OpenText applications they adopt, Ptacek said.
The offer is good through Dec. 31. Ptacek said partners are "enthusiastic" about the offer, but he said it's too soon to tell how many Autonomy customers will take advantage of it.
PUBLISHED NOV. 30, 2012
