Like a hungry guest at the Thanksgiving table, AT&T's
Sterling Commerce offers sophisticated software that allows companies to manage the tricky feat of sharing data while avoiding the inherent pitfalls in security and integration. Pfizer
Sterling Commerce's software has many of the same features as Comergent's. However, given its dot-com background, Comergent also has a variety of powerful Web-based applications. Seagate
The site has fostered a 60% reduction in Seagate's cost-per-order metrics, and helped the company find cross-selling opportunities by giving it an overview into the workings of its supply chain.
While Sterling has a strong foundation in back-end processing, Comergent has a much more effective front end. Because its software is easier to use, it's more readily adopted by customers, and provides them with greater value
What about the price tag for this deal? Its fairness is too tough to call, since Comergent was privately held. Over the years, it did raise at least $71 million in venture capital, and it boasts marquee customers such as Goodrich
For a company the size of AT&T, with its $125 billion market cap, this deal is fairly small. But it may be part of a bigger strategy to eventually spin off Sterling Commerce as an IPO, or perhaps sell it to a major player like Oracle
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Fool contributor Tom Taulli does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 94th out of 13,861 players in Motley Fool CAPS.