Big boys' buyouts scrap support

Small software businesses are being stripped of their staff and capabilities by large corporations looking to address the year 2000 problem.

The National Computer Centre (NCC) claims the move will endanger the services to customer bases and on-going software development by the small firms, as the corporate raiders scrap this support at the expense of year 2000 maintenance.

NCC escrow division business development manager Ken Pearce says the 'vacuum' approach to small companies will leave specialist software users in the lurch when they need support. 'With a focus on fixing internal systems, there is no guarantee that acquired firms will maintain or develop existing applications.'

NCC keeps source code as insurance against a developer going into liquidation or being bought.

Pearce said more requests had been made for source code in three months than in the organisation's 18-year history.

Computer Associates product management VP Steve Mann said it was practical to buy a company for its staff, but not the only reason.

Mann predicted a drop in acquisitions as only eight per cent of companies were considered year 2000-compliant. Companies that were not were unattractive buys.

Anthony Miller, consultant at Richard Holway, said source code was needed as users made their systems compliant.