When EFI announced its acquisition of competitor PACE at the recent EFI Connect users group, I offered my initial perspective on the acquisition.  At the time, EFI was trying to get a few PACE customers to Las Vegas for the event, but with the short notice and the normal press of business, was unable to do so.  Since then, I have talked to several PACE customers to get a feel for their reaction to the acquisition as well as speaking to Connect attendees following the announcement.

At Connect, when the acquisition was announced, the shock in the room was palpable.  It was not at all what attendees were expecting to hear. There was a wide range of initial reaction, both positive and negative, but once attendees had had an opportunity to hear from executives and air their concerns, the initial dismay was somewhat tempered.  The truth is that people generally do not like change, and changing an MIS system is probably more difficult to swallow than many other changes a business might need to face.  Implemented correctly, the MIS is the heartbeat of the operation.  Having a heart transplant is not fun under the best of conditions.

Many at Connect left the conference understanding why EFI made the acquisition, and what the logic was behind the restructuring of the product portfolio.  There will be many PSI and Logic users, I am sure, who will choose not to migrate to PACE.  After all, EFI is still supporting customers using Covalent, a product that has not been sold for decades. For those who do choose to change systems, they will likely assess other options available on the market; after all, if they are going to change, they will want to be sure they are getting the best solution. This is a risk for EFI as competitors go after these potentially vulnerable customers.