fast search & transfer

Rocket Software acquires Microsoft's Folio, NXT

Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it is selling off its Folio and NXT businesses to Massachusetts-based Rocket Software.

Folio, which now goes by the name of Rocket Folio, is a suite of four publishing tools, while NXT (now Rocket NXT) handles publishing Intranet documents. The two businesses came as part of Microsoft's acquisition of Fast Search and Transfer in 2008, a deal that was valued at $1.2 billion. Terms of Wednesday's deal have not yet been disclosed.

As part of the acquisition, Rocket Software will be taking over customer service duties, along with billing. An FAQ page … Read more

Microsoft says it's off to a Fast start

A year ago, the ink was just drying on Microsoft's $1.2 billion offer to buy Norway's Fast Search and Transfer. On Tuesday, Microsoft will unveil its first set of joint products.

"We couldn't really be happier about the progress," said Microsoft veteran Kirk Koenigsbauer, who serves as general manager for the Fast unit. Not only has the technical work been completed to bring the two companies' products together, Koenigsbauer said, but the December quarter was a blowout for sales of Fast's existing products, which help businesses search their documents.

"Fast itself had … Read more

Microsoft's Fast unit probed over accounting

Microsoft's recently acquired Fast Search & Transfer was charged on Thursday with accounting fraud by Norwegian officials, Reuters reported Thursday.

According to the Reuters report, police raided Fast's offices in Oslo in order to preserve evidence.

Microsoft didn't mention the charges in a statement, but it confirmed that police showed up at its offices Thursday.

"We can confirm that the Norwegian Police for Economic Crime this morning conducted inquiries at Fast's offices in Oslo," the software maker said in a statement. "Microsoft and its subsidiary Fast Search & Transfer (are) cooperating fully with … Read more

Microsoft looking for the Limelight?

Microsoft has said it plans to continue its acquisition spree this year and it is off to a good start, having announced plans on Tuesday to buy Norway's Fast Search and Transfer.

There's no shortage of rumors of who is next on Steve Ballmer's shopping list. Earlier this week, there were separate rumors that Microsoft was interested in Yahoo as well as accessories maker Logitech.

Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider added another potential name to the list, saying Friday that he's heard that Microsoft might be interested in Limelight, a publicly traded company that runs … Read more

Microsoft offers $1.2 billion for Fast

Well, now we know what Microsoft had originally planned to announce on Monday.

Overnight, Microsoft announced it is offering $1.2 billion to buy Fast Search & Transfer, a leader in enterprise search. Microsoft had been working on the deal, which went by the code name "Ferrari" for a while now, but discussions had heated up in recent days.

The move shows the importance of business search as part of the overall search war with Google and other competitors.

Microsoft has previously made moves in business search, largely at the lower end of the market, using its SharePoint … Read more