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Peregrine ready to emerge from Chapter 11

Crossing ts

One of the most widely recognised IT brands should next month emerge from the clutches of "Chapter 11", writes Tony Lock of Bloor Research.

Since September of last year Peregrine Systems Inc., one of the leading suppliers of Asset Management and Service Management software, has been working to reorganise both its financial standing and its senior management structure in order to put itself in a position to rejoin the ranks of mainstream business.

Over the last couple of weeks Peregrine has successfully reached agreement with both the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors and the Official Committee of Equity Holders to restructure the company, a move confirmed at a hearing before Judge Judith Fitzgerald of the United States Bankruptcy court.

The agreement will see bondholders of the company receive 63 percent of stock with another 33 percent being shared between existing stockholders and certain securities claimants. The remainder of the holdings will be divided between the two groups upon resolution of unliquidated claims.

The court has now confirmed the reorganisation plan that leaves Peregrine with no legal barriers to its emergence from Chapter 11. These developments will mark Peregrine as one of the few large IT suppliers to ever successfully recover from Chapter 11. The company has undergone huge changes to put itself in a position where it is now ready to start battling with other vendors rather than with lawyers, accountants and its creditors. The path has been tough but the new management team and the company's employees deserve credit for their efforts.

The resurrection of Peregrine comes at a time when both Asset Management and Service Management are becoming the focus of increasing attention from suppliers and user organisations. Until the events of last year Peregrine was clearly the best known supplier of these software tools. Since then however other vendors have been actively developing their offerings with PS'Soft, Altiris and MRO all releasing significant updates. It is also worthwhile noting that CA has been quietly adding to its capabilities in these areas.

Whilst all of these suppliers possess valuable solutions, it is likely that Peregrine may face its stiffest challenge from BMC with its newly acquired Remedy product set. Since it got hold of Remedy from Peregrine, BMC has undertaken major developments in the software to strengthen its asset management capabilities. The resulting offering is likely to offer Peregrine stiff competition.

However with Peregrine soon to be free of the last of its Chapter 11 imposed restraints the company will once again be able to focus all of its attention on sales and marketing. There is no doubt that Peregrine has its work cut out to regain visibility but the company is now very firmly operating back in the market sector where it first rose to prominence.

Peregrine has good technology, good staff and a massive installed base. The successful rebirth of Peregrine should ensure that Asset Management will continue to evolve rapidly and that the burgeoning customer interest translates into real deployments.

© IT-Analysis.com

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