OSS vendors are embarking on an acquisition binge in an effort to beef up their businesses and survive in a sector that's slowly winnowing the wheat from the chaff.

The latest companies to bolster their customer bases and product portfolios through acquisitions are Evolving Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: EVOL) and Azure Solutions Inc. (see Evolving Systems Buys Tertio and Azure Acquires Connexn Technologies).

Those deals follow swiftly on the heels of WatchMark-Comnitel's purchase of ADC Telecommunications Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ADCT) Metrica unit; the fusion of Daleen and Protek to form a new company, Viziqor Solutions; and Intec Telecom Systems plc's (London: ITL) investment in a small Danish OSS firm. (See ADC Sells Metrica to OSS Rival, Daleen, Protek Get New Name, and Intec Invests in Telmate.)

Intec has also been on the acquisition trail this year (see Intec Completes Billing Acquisition); and the sector is currently awaiting the mother of all OSS company takeovers (see Source: Telcordia Sends Out Feelers and Telcordia CEO $trikes $ell-Off Deal).

Basically, there are still far too many companies in the OSS sector...

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— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading