Troux buys Computas

Troux Technologies is the new owner of Computas North America, the federal sector enterprise architecture software company.

Troux has previously focused on information technology architecture for the private sector. An initially integrated product of the two companies' software will become available by the end of the first quarter in 2005, said Pat Emerson, vice president of sales for Troux Technologies. Full integration should be complete by the off the second quarter.

Computas North America will assume the Troux name and no layoffs are planned, Emerson said. He declined to say how much Troux is paying for Computas. The privately-held, Texas-based company raised $16 million in C-series funding prior to the purchase, however.

Integrating Computas' Metis software with Troux's IT architecture products will allow federal agencies to do a comprehensive and automatic update of their "as is" status, rather than "do this in a tectonic project every year when it comes to budgeting," Emerson said. Automatic updating of the "as is" down to the level of IT architecture will, in turn, improve agency strategic management, Emerson said.

At least two factors are nudging agencies to push enterprise architecture deeper into IT governance, Troux managers say. Dick Burk, the recently-appointed federal chief architect, has emphasized the importance of using enterprise architecture to achieve company goals. Also, the Government Accountability Office is moving forward to study what metrics agencies should use to measure architecture's effectiveness.

Doing a manual update of the "as is" state every year around budget time leads to flawed data, said Bill Wright, who was president and chief executive officer of Computas. Wright becomes now Troux chief technology officer. "If it's dirty data, the decision you're trying to make on that are going to be at risk," he said.

The idea for an acquisition was first proposed by Computas, Wright and Emerson said. Market analysis showed the companies emerging as close competitors and "sometimes it's better to join rather than to fight the guy," Wright said. "We decided let Troux acquire us as opposed to us acquire Troux. The end result is the same," Wright added.