RM have announced their purchase of Australian company CAZ Software. CAZ’s main educational products are school administration packages called MAZE and MAZE Lite, which between them have 2600 customers in Australian schools. CAZ also produce an accounting package called Geni and a membership and financial management systems called Club.
RM are paying £1.2m (A$2.95m) for Perth-based CAZ, whose 2004/5 turnover was £1.8m (A$4.43m) and £200k (A$492k). The deal sees RM paying £1m now and £0.2m in twelve months’ time, presumably subject to certain targets being met; RM will also take on CAZ’s debts which stand at £0.3m (A$0.8m).
RM plan to integrate CAZ and its products into its School Management Solutions division which has 4000 UK clients. CAZ may become an important part of RM’s attempt to broaden its educational base, particularly as CAZ has a good network of customers in China, Singapore and around the Asia Pacific region.
RM’s purchase came just a week after Pearson announced that they had brought their two major competitors in the US School Information Systems (SIS) market (called Management Information Systems or MIS in the UK). The market for MIS software looks set to grow in the UK, and even though the market is dominated by Capita (SIMS), there is increasing competition from companies like Pearson (Phoenix), RM (IntegrisG2) and Bromcom (e-Administration). Outside the UK, the market for MIS systems will grow substantially as countries like China and India seek to make a step change in school administration by using MIS technology.
