The missing piece in SunGard's cash management puzzle

I didn't see this one coming, but then I am not psychic and the pace of consolidation occurring amongst software vendors these days is so frantic, that it is resulting in some interesting bedfellows.

The latest one is the SunGard and Trax merger. SunGard announced today that it had acquired Belgium-based financial messaging and payment processing software provider,Trax. Trax helps banks and corporates optimise their payment flows by facilitating connectivity between banks and corporates and transformation capabilities when it comes to financial messaging.

Last year, SunGard made a serious foray into the cash management space with its acquisition of GetPaid, which covers the order-to-cash cycle. The Trax acquisition, which will be incorporated within SunGard's AvantGard treasury management business, is the icing on the cake for the vendor in terms of being able to provide cash management workflow tools throughout the enterprise and higher levels of connectivity. "[Trax] gives us greater flexibility and the connectivity, which goes beyond what we could have done with our payment hub," says an AvantGard spokesman.

The two vendors had worked together on a number of cash management projects and the spokesman said the acquisition felt like a "natural fit", unlike those other kind of acquisitions which are more of a defensive play.