Invensys, the $2B London-based industrial conglomerate, has announced that it is looking to divest its holdings in a number of its businesses, including Baan. Baan, once an up-and-coming contender to SAP, fell onto hard times in the late 1990s and was acquired by Invensys in 2001 as part of its strategy to provide enterprise systems "from the plant floor to the boardroom." But Invensys itself is facing a slump in demand and needs to find ways to increase cash. The move creates additional uncertainty for the Baan installed base. Baan's announcing its intentions prior to having a deal in place certainly didn't help sooth the concerns of users. Unfortunately, good choices for ERP from financially stable vendors are becoming fewer and fewer.
As a side note, AMR is reporting that the Invensys Protean ERP product for the process industries and the Wonderware MES are not part of the divestiture plan.
Computerworld has some observations from customers and analysts on Baan's situation.
