ITW Punts on Owning Services Procurement and Content Mgmt. Offerings

Earlier this week, ITW announced it plans to sell its Click Commerce software division. Click, based in downtown Chicago, rolled up a number of software providers over the years ala Computer Associates, continuing to sell and support a range of applications but falling behind the best of breed vendors in keeping up on the innovation front. Two of the companies were Requisite, a provider of catalog content management solutions -- a space now often mistakenly referred to in the broader context as master data management (MDM) -- and eLance, a provider of services procurement software. If I were a Click customer at this point, I'd probably have little cause for concern. The worst that can happen is that a financial buyer like an Infor purchases the assets and does little with them from a product enhancement perspective (following in Click's footsteps). Or in a better case, perhaps a provider committed to serious innovation purchases Click's assets and builds upon the already solid solutions they're offering to the market. Only time well tell who wins the bidding. Before then, sit back, manage your catalog data, administer your contingent work force, and take it easy. Because whoever buys Click, it will have to be a better fit than a diversified manufacturer made up of hundreds of autonomous little businesses.

- Jason Busch