PSIM pairing

DUBLIN--Situation management specialist Orsus announced in early March the acquisition of the Ireland-based Cinario, a developer of intelligent management integration software based here, as part of its strategy to enlarge its footprint on the UK and European markets. The company also announced a technology partnership with analytics maker ObjectVideo, becoming part of its OV Ready network.

The acquisition of Cinario was funded via a recently completed round of investment raised from existing Orsus investors. The company declined to disclose further details on the investment or the acquisition.

Cinario, which was established in 2002, focuses on solutions for the retail market and boasts clients such as Tesco, Dixons and Wal-Mart subsidiary ASDA.

In addition to the complementary nature of Cinario and Orsus products, Rafi Bhonker, vice-president of marketing and sales at Orsus, told Security Systems News Europe that Cinario's well-established list of clients also made the company an attractive acquisition target. “This deal gives us a local presence as well as an existing customer base that we can migrate to our Situator product,” explained Bhonker.

Situator, Orsus' flagship product, is a comprehensive situation management software solution that enables situation planning, response and analysis for the security, safety and crisis management markets.

And Situator will now integrate easily with any other platform in the OV Ready network, including cameras and encoders with on board analytics or video management software that reads OV analytics' alerts.

Cinario's CEO Charlie Sherlock and CTO John Breen will stay on board, joining the Orsus management team. “Orsus' very strong financial position allows for a level of expansion which we simply could not have achieved by ourselves in Cinario,” Sherlock said in a statement. “My coming on board allows me to deliver significant additional business benefits to my Cinario clients through the use of Situator,” he added.

The synergies between the two companies will present real opportunities to clients for cost savings, according to Bhonker. For example, as economic concerns move to the forefront, larger organizations - Orsus' target market - can reduce costs by effectively consolidating multiple control rooms, Bhonker said.

At the same time, effective situation management can reduce bottom-line costs. “When you talk about situation management, you're really talking about different alerting technologies that we correlate together,” explained Bhonker. “We put these technologies together and make sense out of the information, out of the business process,” he continued. “Correlating information to allow for the most effective response - this has a direct impact on an organization's bottom line.”