The Week in Review--4/4/03

In the news... eGain Communications, a provider of customer service management software, announced a program that will allow customers of older legacy software systems to switch to eGain's solutions while trading in the underappreciated value of their prior investment. The eGain SafeSwitch program aims to acquire users of systems from existing and acquired vendors like: Divine/Delano/eShare, Firepond/Brightware, Kana/ServiceSoft, Mustang/Quintus/Avaya, and Webline/Cisco. Hyperion, a provider of business performance management software, announced yesterday a definitive agreement to acquire the assets and certain liabilities of The Alcar Group, a strategic financial modeling company. Hyperion says the acquisition of privately held Alcar will help Hyperion extend its lead in business performance management by integrating financial and operational modeling. Quantum Performance Solutions, a provider of online survey and performance management solutions, announced that it is renaming the company to PeriscopeIQ to reflect its mission to provide clients with a "periscopic view of customer attitudes, employee performance and market acceptance faster and more cost-effectively." Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) projects the speech recognition market to increase to $897.8 million in 2003, up from $677 million in 2002. Over the longer term, the speech recognition market is forecasted to grow to $5.3 billion by 2008, according to a recent ABI study. "As users become more aware of the technology and recognize the benefits, demand will help drive applications in carrier and embedded markets," Edward A. Rerisi, director of research at ABI said in a statement. Executive changes... E.piphany announced this week that it has named Ellen Olson the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. Olson will be responsible for all aspects of E.piphany's worldwide marketing efforts, including corporate marketing, product marketing and management, lead generation, and strategic marketing programs, which includes partner and customer initiatives. KANA, a provider of enterprise customer support and communications applications, has announced that Tom Doyle has been promoted to the role of president of KANA. Doyle previously served as KANA's COO. CRM database system provider Oaktree Systems, a subsidiary of Gateway Industries, announced today it has hired a new CEO, Chris Lynde. Concurrently, Frank Mackay, former CEO and founder of Oaktree, will assume the new role of CIO, and will focus on the development of new business systems and customer solutions. The Allant Group, a leader in data-based strategic marketing solutions, has appointed Donna Tracy to the position of executive vice president, marketing.