Nu·ance (noun)A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.
On December 31st, Nuance (parent of eCopy and Equitrac) acquired Control Systems, Inc. (parent of Copitrak). Nuance claims it will be “business as usual,” with both Equitrac and Copitrak continuing to produce and service their respective products. Of course, all mergers of equals are usually operated “business as usual” until the new parent company starts taking a closer look and slashing duplicative functions.
I think the key question here is, why the move in the first place? Specifically:
- As everyone knows, the traditional cost recovery model is under tremendous pressure from both internal and external factors so the growth in these areas will be limited.
- The growth in this sector has been mostly in the area of scan routing/workflow which has been eCopy’s niche – did Nuance make this move to eliminate a competitor?
- With nQueue/Billback and Equitrac/Copitrak as the only two (2) competitors now, will this decrease competition and provide the opportunity to increase pricing?
- Does this have anything to do with current or pending litigation?
Whatever the reason, and we will probably know in the next 6-12 months, it allows us the opportunity to reiterate the questions we ask our clients:
- Do you really need a cost recovery system?
- In many situations, if you do the analysis and determine what you are actually recovering, does it make financial sense to replace this system?
- Depending upon your firm’s situation, should you look at another model of cost recovery especially if you are not capturing scans and prints?
- Should you “outsource” your cost recovery?
Stay tuned for the subtle—or not so subtle—results of this acquisition.
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