Adobe boosts enterprise portfolio one Day at a time

Adobe is to buy Switzerland-based Day Software for $240m (£154m) in a move designed to strengthen the company's position in the enterprise software market.

The buyout will give Adobe the chance to develop tools including web content and digital asset management systems, and social collaboration apps, the firm said.

"Adobe's acquisition of Day Software represents a key milestone in our efforts to deliver management solutions to enterprises and governments worldwide," said Rob Tarkoff, general manager for digital enterprise solutions at Adobe.

"We will be able to enhance the value of our offering, and deliver on our vision of the web as the hub of customer interaction."

Erik Hansen, chief executive of Day Software, claimed that the deal would also benefit his company through the combination of Day's web content management technologies with tools such as Flash and PDF.

John Powell, chief executive of Alfresco, a previous competitor of Day Software's, and a partner for Adobe's Lifecycle products, underlined a growing shift in this market.

"Day Software's focus on marketing applications, solutions and high-end enterprise sales complements Adobe's approach," he said.

"This is a further consolidation of a market which has seen the disappearance of standalone proprietary web content management under pressure from open source."

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Adobe's 2010 fiscal year, subject to customary government approval and other conditions.