May 5, 2005

CUSTOMER WINS Verint Systems has announced that UnumProvident has selected Verint's ULTRA solution to enhance the enrollment services it provides customers. Unum Provident is a provider of group and individual disability income protection insurance. IN THE NEWS Oracle has exercised purchase options to acquire PeopleSoft development centers in India operated by Hexaware Technologies and Covansys The purchase options, originally granted under agreements entered into by PeopleSoft in 2003, were acquired by Oracle in connection with its acquisition of PeopleSoft in January. The transfer of the two centers is scheduled to be completed in late October 2005. Francisco Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm, has announced it has successfully closed the transaction to purchase the WebTrends business unit, a division of NetIQ. This gives WebTrends increased strategic flexibility, quicker reflexes, and the deep resources needed to expand it position in the industry, according to Greg Drew, WebTrends CEO and president. NEW PRODUCTS Interactive Intelligence has announced desktop client and e-service enhancements to its contact center suite, Customer Interaction Center (CIC). New options to CIC provide client integrations for Microsoft Outlook, CRM, and Great Plains, along with a new thin-client version, Interaction Client.Net Edition. It also includes enhancements to its knowledge management systems, e-FAQ, which offers automated responses to email and Web inquiries. ON THE MOVE Three high-tech professionals have joined Kintera, a provider of SaaS to the nonprofit and government sectors, to help manage the company's growth. Andrew Pan will serve as vice president of information technology; Steve Johnson will be vice president of channel sales; and Andrew Scofield becomes vice president of client services. Accenturehas named Karl-Heinz Floether group chief executive of technology and delivery. Adrian Lajtha, managing partner of Accenture's financial services practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland, succeeds Floether as group chief executive of financial services and joins Accenture's executive leadership team. Quaero, a provider of services to accelerate marketing performance, has appointed Julie Phillips Baker to vice president of Western region marketing effectiveness. She will direct the companies marketing effectiveness engagements throughout the Western United States for financial services, travel and leisure, publishing, and pharmaceutical companies. Related articles: CRM and Crisis Management Technology helped the Red Cross manage wildfire-response relief efforts in ways it has never done before. Oracle's Oyster The PeopleSoft acquisition alters the software giant's competitive landscape.