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Microsoft Buys Prodiance, Aims To Beef Up Excel
Microsoft on Monday acquired Pleasanton, Calif.-based Prodiance Corp., a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in enterprise risk management solutions.
Prodiance makes a suite of solutions under its Enterprise Risk Manager product line that work with the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. The solutions are designed help organizations with compliance issues, supporting inventory, discovery, risk analysis, management, remediation and the monitoring of "mission critical spreadsheets," according to the Prodiance's description.
Under the terms of the deal, Prodiance remains in Pleasanton and becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. Microsoft is currently working with Prodiance management "to bring a number of Prodiance employees to Microsoft," according to Microsoft's FAQ. The companies aren't disclosing the financial details.
Microsoft intends to integrate some of Prodiance's technologies into future Microsoft Office and SharePoint versions, according to Microsoft's announcement. The integration" will add "increased security and control over critical business information in spreadsheets." It will enable auditing and policy enforcement via "continuous monitoring of documents." It's also expected to enable "automated risk assessment."
Microsoft plans to disclose further details about its product integration at a future date. Existing Prodiance customers, as of June 6, can buy more Prodiance licenses. In addition, Prodiance support policies for current customers will continue through their expiration periods. Customers wanting to purchase Prodiance solutions today should wait for Microsoft to disclose pricing and licensing details to be offered with the Office product line at a later unspecified date, according to the FAQ.
A "Microsoft Pathways" page here lists additional transition details associated with the acquisition.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.