The Week in Review: November 7, 2003

In the News... Siebel Systems announced this week that it has closed its acquisition of hosted CRM provider UpShot Corporation. Under the terms of the deal, $50 million in cash will initially be paid to the UpShot shareholders, and up to an additional $20 million in cash may be paid in earn-outs during 2003 and 2004. A new report by independent market analysts Datamonitor reveals that one out of every 24 call center agents serving U.S. customers, is outsourced to a near- or offshore bureau. The firm predicts that by 2008, one in 15 agent positions will be outsourced to a foreign market. Datamonitor says that although the U.S. call centers will lose jobs to foreign markets, new U.S.-based agent positions in emerging sectors -- namely, utilities and government -- and traditional outsourcing verticals, will safeguard against shrinkage of the domestic market. Success however, will depend on outsourcers' leveraging offshore/nearshore call center operations and executing the right vertical-specific sales strategy, the firm posits. GWI Software, a provider of Web-based help desk solutions, announced the launch of its new Technical Services Group. Previously outsourced, GWI views the new group as a way to reinforce its commitment to superior customer satisfaction. The Technical Services Group, headed by longtime senior manager Lisa Rogovin, will handle all of the installation, customization, data integration, and best practices consulting for all of GWI's products. Dendrite International this week announced that it will relocate its global headquarters from Morristown, NJ, to a larger, more modern campus in Bedminster, NJ, during 2004. Deals of the Week Marriott International is launching a project with IBM Business Consulting Services to implement Siebel's new Hospitality Group Sales and Event Management application, a project valued at $15 million. Salesforce.com announced that Harris Interactive, a worldwide market research and consulting firm, is standardizing more than 200 U.S. and U.K. sales and research professionals on Salesforce.com. Satuit Technologies, a provider of CRM software for investment professionals, announced that Arrowstreet Capital, L.P. has chosen SatuitCRM Enterprise to help implement its sales and client service functions. Encover, a provider of service contract optimization software, announced that Enterasys Networks, a provider of business-driven networks for enterprise-class customers, has licensed Encover software. Executive Changes Interactive Intelligence, a provider of software for IP telephony, contact center automation, and unified communications, has named Stephen Head as its new chief financial officer. Head previously served as CFO for Web security applications developer Gilian Technologies. Edify Corporation, an S1 company and a provider of voice and speech solutions, has appointed Marie Amoruso Jackson as vice president of worldwide marketing and Mark Fournival as vice president of worldwide sales. Most recently Jackson was executive vice president, marketing and services, of Icarian, while Fournival served as corporate vice president of North American sales at Cadence Design Systems.