Elearning - Winter 2005 - (Page 9)

News Witness Systems to Acquire Blue Pumpkin Software Witness Systems, a provider of performance optimization software and services, announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc., a specialist in enterprise workforce management solutions, for approximately $75 million. Approximately $40 million of the purchase price is being paid in cash and the remainder in Witness Systems stock. Witness Systems said the merger reinforces its position in the burgeoning global contact center workforce optimization market, and is expected to be accretive to earnings for the 2005 calendar year. The combination will give the company in a strong position in the two anchor segments of the broader workforce optimization landscape — quality monitoring and workforce management — which represent 78 percent of the market, according to Datamonitor. “In the technology industry, market leadership and firstmover advantage drive growth and competitive edge. By acquiring Blue Pumpkin, we are able to integrate two essential components of workforce optimization — quality monitoring and workforce management,” said Dave Gould, chairman and CEO of Witness Systems. “The resulting solution set represents a unique value proposition for our customers and partners, which now have a comprehensive offering to optimize customer service delivery from a single supplier,” he added. “We’re also excited about Blue Pumpkin’s established channel relationships with Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and Siemens and strength in the mid-market.” Doron Aspitz, chairman and CEO of Blue Pumpkin added, “Enterprises looking to derive the greatest value, both in terms of efficiency gains and performance improvement, are requiring a complete workforce optimization solution. Efficiency has been the first area to be addressed, most significantly through workforce management’s automation of the scheduling and planning of resources in the contact center. “Quality monitoring software was the first solution to initiate effectiveness change. The combination of these two market innovators will continue to demonstrate the technology leadership that both companies have exhibited in their respective segments of the market, offering a compelling option for customers worldwide.” According to Saddletree Research, a custom and syndicated industry research firm for emerging and high-growth communications markets, workforce management and quality monitoring should be closely connected in the evolving workforce optimization market. According to the firm’s published research, “these productivity tools are inexplicably linked by virtue of their ability, both individually and as a group, to positively impact contact center efficiency and operational effectiveness at all “The ability to bundle a single offering that provides comprehensive customer service delivery is compelling for end users and channel partners ” levels of the enterprise, from the contact center agent on the front lines to the executives on ‘Mahogany Row.’ While each of these individual solutions offers a compelling productivity solution as a standalone application, we believe their true value is most evident when working together to collectively impact operational results.” “The ability to bundle a single offering that provides comprehensive customer service delivery is compelling for end users and channel partners in the SMB market, both of which tend to avoid point systems requiring significant interface effort,” said Gould. The deal has received all required Blue Pumpkin board and stockholder approvals, and is subject to customary closing conditions, and was approved by the board of directors of Witness Systems. The company expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2005. For more information, visit www.witness.com. Elearning! Winter 2005 9 http://www.witness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Elearning - Winter 2005

Elearning - Winter 2005 Contents Editor’s Note News & Analysis Witness Buys Blue Pumpkin Deals in the Making People on the Move Trendline Executives Rate Importance of Training Requirements for Support Put Pressure on Tech Companies Hiring Trends: Small Companies, Big Plans Measuring the Return on Your E-earning Investments Building Interactivity into E-learning Partnering with Colleges and Universities for E-learning Content Strategy VoIP Voice Over IP Case Study: LMS Content Development & Collaboration Tools Case Study: ePerformance Last Word

Elearning - Winter 2005

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