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Vision Solutions Acquires Lakeview Technology, Expands Its Availability Portfolio and Accelerates Innovation
Acquisition Expands Vision Solutions' Commitment to System i High Availability Technologies
| Source: Vision Solutions
IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - June 13, 2007) - In a move that strengthens its position as the
world's leading high
availability (HA) solution provider for IBM's System i platform, Vision
Solutions Inc. today announced that it has acquired Lakeview Technology
Inc. The acquisition expands Vision's presence and commitment to the System i high availability market while
building out its distribution, technology, and service offerings for its
worldwide base of nearly 6,000 customers.
"The acquisition of Lakeview underscores our focus to provide customers
with the best system resiliency and data management products and the most
exceptional support in the industry," said Nicolaas Vlok, president and CEO
of Vision. "Lakeview has built a strong worldwide high availability
business, and we are excited to have its world-class employees, customers
and partners join the Vision family. With our expanded resources and scale,
we will increase our ability to innovate and be the solutions provider our
customers can count on for their availability needs."
The acquisition of Lakeview, backed by private equity investor Thoma
Cressey Bravo, Inc., marks Vision's second strategic combination in the high availability market,
following its October 2006 merger with iTera, Inc. "We are excited to
partner with Vision Solutions and Lakeview Technology to create the clear
industry leader in the System
i high availability
market. Adding the MIMIX range of solutions to Vision's product family
creates the broadest and most innovative portfolio of high availability technology
globally," said Scott Crabill, a partner with Thoma Cressey Bravo.
With the acquisition of Lakeview, Vision Solutions' Premier Business
Partner relationship with IBM is expected to strengthen and expand as both
companies further align product development initiatives and move forward
with go-to-market strategies to support the needs of enterprise customers
while growing the small and medium business marketplace.
"System i clients are looking
for affordable, easy-to-manage business resiliency solutions, and the
combination of Vision Solutions and Lakeview Technology is terrific news
for our clients around the world," said Mark Shearer, general manager, IBM
System i. "Vision Solutions has leadership technology assets, services
competencies, global reach and the financial strength necessary to take
business resiliency to an entirely new level for our clients and partners."
"Businesses of all sizes are increasingly looking to implement business
resiliency solutions that are innovative, affordable and easy to use," said
Sonia Lelii, Storage Research Analyst at Aberdeen Group. "With this
market-changing acquisition, Vision Solutions will be uniquely positioned
to globally provide small and medium businesses with the best resiliency
solutions that are specifically tailored for their needs."
The acquisition of Lakeview Technology combines the R&D talents of the
industry's largest and most innovative high availability and disaster
recovery development organizations. In addition, customers will benefit
from an extensive support organization that spans the world.
During the merger of Vision and iTera in 2006, the company committed to
develop, market and support both ORION HA and iTera HA for the foreseeable
future. Vision intends to implement this same strategy with Lakeview's
MIMIX product line.
"Each of the iTera, MIMIX and ORION high availability offerings bring
important availability and recovery capabilities to their respective
customers. We will continue to develop and support these solutions, while
working to cross-pollinate the best features of each offering as we roll
out new releases," said Alan Arnold, chief technology officer at Vision
Solutions. "Customers using our products can count on Vision's commitment
of continued investment in future technology initiatives. As we go forward,
our synergies will provide customers with even better value from their
Vision and IBM availability technologies."
"Customers of Vision and Lakeview have come to expect world-class products
and services, and both companies strive to exceed our customers'
expectations," said Bill Merchantz, CEO of Lakeview. "By combining Vision
and Lakeview, our customers will have the resources of a large operation to
support their future needs through Vision's varied product and service
offerings. I am excited about the opportunities this will bring to our
employees, customers and partners."
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Vision Solutions
Vision Solutions, Inc. is the world's leading provider of high availability, disaster
recovery, and data management solutions for the System i market. As IBM's
largest high availability Premier Business Partner, Vision Solutions is a
recognized System i solutions leader. The Company works closely with an
international network of channel partners and IBM to deliver its
industry-leading software, along with a powerful portfolio of services and
support for protecting mission-critical applications and information from
planned and unplanned downtime. Privately held by Thoma Cressey Bravo,
Inc., Vision Solutions is headquartered in Irvine, California with offices
worldwide. For more information, visit www.visionsolutions.com or call
800.957.4511.