The end of the affair
After a tempestuous Summer of uncertainty and with bank deadlines fast approaching, iSoft shareholders have at last agreed to the Australian firm IBA’s takeover terms. The deal gives iSoft the financial security they so badly needed and will give IBA a bigger global presence as a provider of healthcare systems.
The news will be a blow to Germany’s Compugroup who had themselves gazumped IBA’s original bid for iSoft, with an all cash offer. However IBA upped the stakes and made an offer iSoft shareholders couldn’t refuse.
But where does this leave the NHS National Programme for IT? Local service providers Fujitsu and CSC have struggled to install their Patient Administration Systems, Cerner’s Millennium and iSoft’s Lorenzo. Both software packages require further development to match the requirements of NHS trusts and provide the correct functionality and reporting. Nothing new in large scale IT projects, but this particular project has come under intense public scrutiny and political opposition.
As CSC has now refrained from blocking IBA’s takeover of iSoft, we must assume that they believe the new organisation can and will deliver against their contract, albeit a newly renegotiated one. Hopefully the new company will now bounce back and make great strides in their attempts to deliver the Lorenzo package. Perhaps the news will also spur Cerner into action to speed up their own development work and allow Fujitsu to increase their Millennium implementations in the South of the country.
Let’s hope the new injection of cash and expertise will drive things forward.
Story Date
23 October 2007
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