Hyland Software, developer of the OnBase ECM product  announced its acquisition of Liberty IMS.

This is a customer base acquisition growing the Hyland customer base by more than 1,000 Liberty customers. But, this acquisition does not reposition Hyland into the "big leagues", as Liberty is a player in the SMB (small and medium business) ECM space, the market segment in which most of Hyland's existing customers also reside.  Hyland acquires little with regards to enhanced technical capability with this acquisition as well, and is likely to migrate Liberty customer to the OnBase platform over time.

The acquisition gives this mid-west company a trendy new address in Costa Mesa Calilfornia.  But perhaps, more importantly it signals the beginning of a growth by acquisition strategy that Hyland has been hinting to for some time.  Eyes will be on Hyland to see if they continue with this acquisition strategy, and if the strategy will include acquisition of technology and customers that reposition Hyland into the enterprise level major league.