Hewlett-Packard Co said yesterday that it has agreed to purchase Dazel Corp, an electronic information delivery software company, for an undisclosed sum. HP said the acquisition of Dazel, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, would help it to drive its Digital Workplace vision, through which it aims to make it easier for HP customers to manage the flow of digital data around their enterprises.
Dazel develops software that leverages both hard copy and the web to access, bundle and distribute information, such as ERP enterprise resource planning and transactional data in the form of documents and reports, both internally and to external partners. Dazel’s core product, called the Dazel Output Server, creates what Dazel calls an information-delivery infrastructure across the enterprise which allows users to capture, route, store, distribute, control, publish and view the output generated by business applications. A spokesperson for HP told ComputerWire the software would complement HP’s existing line-up of hardware solutions, including its range of networked digital copiers, printers and multifunction machines. Although the software won’t be bundled directly with HP boxes, resellers will offer the solution alongside the company’s existing hardware. Following approval by government regulatory agencies and Dazel shareholders, Dazel will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary within HP’s LaserJet Imaging Systems division.
Bill Bock, president of Dazel, will remain Dazel president and report to Rich Raimondi, senior VP of HP LaserJet Imaging Systems. All Dazel’s 170 employees worldwide will become HP employees, with its headquarters remaining in Austin. The acquisition is expected to close within the next sixty days, HP said. The news comes the same day as HP unveiled its storage area network strategy in New York (see separate story).
