Big Data Buyout: ERwin Acquired; Adam Famularo Named CEO

ERwin Inc., formerly a CA Technologies business, has been acquired by Parallax Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Well-known channel guru Adam Famularo -- a CA and Verizon veteran -- has been named CEO.

ERwin is a data modeling and Big Data solution that allows partners and customers to manage complex data. Famularo is very familiar with ERwin's software. During his time at CA Technologies, his roles included GM of the ARCserve and ERwin brands -- both of which have been sold off to outside investors.

In this case, Famularo actually helped to shape ERwin's new ownership move. A longtime angel investor himself, Famularo knows the Parallax team well and helped to ensure the company was involved in the bidding to buy ERwin. (Financial terms of the buyout were not disclosed.)

ERwin has a channel-exclusive model for its data modeling software. "We're out to build and expand an already successful big data company," Famularo told ChannelE2e. The ERwin platform allows customers to "take data and make intelligent decisions on how to build next-generation applications" he says.

ERwin's business size and headcount remain confidential. But the business is likely sizable, considering the company has offices in Florida, New Jersey, New York, China, India, the Czech Republic and Singapore. The company says it has has an active base of roughly 75,000 customers in more than 50 countries.

Over the next 90 days, Famularo says he'll spend most of his time focused on communications -- developing a regular cadence with partners, customers and employees. Among Famularo's top two priorities:

The partner opportunity includes traditional license sales, IT consulting and recurring revenue opportunities tied to maintenance renewals, education and training, he says.

For many channel partners, big data opportunities remain a new or emerging conversation -- though the overall big data movement seems to be picking up among partners.