ISYS® Search Software Responds to Microsoft's Agreement to Acquire FAST

January 8, 2008 at 11 a.m. Mountain Time
Microsoft announced this morning it has to agreed to acquire FAST Search & Transfer for USD$1.2 billion.  For Microsoft, it acquires technology that fills many of the gaps in its own enterprise search offerings; and for FAST, this deal yields a rapid exit from what various media and analysts have viewed as a downward spiral for the Oslo, Norway, enterprise search firm.

But where does that leave customers, both old and new?  Through first-hand knowledge and its conversations with customers, prospects, partners and industry observers, ISYS is well aware of the implementation difficulties companies have had with both Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) and FAST’s own technology.  While we don’t believe in a magic pill when it comes to these types of solutions, we also don’t feel customers should have to invest countless months, resources and money on something that should begin earning a return almost immediately.

The combination of MOSS and FAST has the potential for real integration headaches.  Unless Microsoft can slot FAST’s technology into MOSS and offer it up to customers as a turnkey solution without the need for additional integration overhead, this deal could mean double the implementation time or worse.  And more importantly for customers, how will Microsoft price this combined solution?  Based on our knowledge of FAST’s pricing, customers can expect a starting price of $250,000 to $300,000.

Microsoft is already spinning this deal as a net win for the customer, claiming the combined technology will give customers a single solution that covers the gamut of search needs.  ISYS politely disagrees with this assertion, as these search needs also include a facility for out-of-the-box yet advanced functionality, something that doesn’t appear to be in the cards for the combined Microsoft/FAST solution. 

The deal itself is not a surprise.  Platform vendors have been making these types of acquisitions for a couple of years now, with Oracle serving as one of the early movers with its acquisition of TripleHop.  But how does it affect the enterprise search market as a whole?  The mid-market should continue unaffected, as it will take months for the two companies to merge, and the resulting product will likely be too aggressive (both in costs and implementation timeframes) for most mid-market needs.  As such, we believe ISYS remains well suited to serve its broad base of mid-market customers, and news such as this only further highlights the need for powerful yet affordable enterprise search.  ISYS has been successfully selling mid-market enterprise search solutions for nearly 20 years now, primarily because we’ve never strayed from customer demand for easy-to-use, cost-effective technology.

The high-end pure-play vendors stand to lose the most by the continued movement among platform vendors.  The fear, uncertainty and doubt this news creates will likely stall large-scale deals, spelling trouble for a handful of vendors.  Despite its success and growth, Autonomy is now in a precarious position, and one has to question how long the company can continue on its own.  Others making large bets in this end of the market include Endeca, Vivisimo and Recommind.  These vendors, too, will have to look deep into their crystal balls to determine how viable they will remain, as platform vendors generate more inroads in the high end.  When you consider that vendors like IBM and Microsoft already have armies of professional services, it appears clear that room at the top is quite crowded, with little air to breathe for those without the resources to compete.

Well-known industry expert Stephen Arnold has written his own take on Microsoft’s acquisition of FAST.  It’s a thorough look that breaks it down to its logical components.  Other media and analysts are sure to offer their views on the deal, and we will update this post with those entries over the coming days.