ARMONK, N.Y., April
13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today
announced a definitive agreement to acquire Varicent Software
Incorporated, a leading provider of analytics software for
compensation and sales performance management. Varicent is a
privately held company, with headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Financial terms were
not disclosed.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )
Varicent software automates and analyzes the collection and
reporting of sales data across finance, sales, human resources and
IT departments to gain efficiencies, uncover trends and improve
sales performance. The acquisition accelerates IBM's Smarter
Analytics capabilities across line of business operations in all
industries, and will be combined with IBM's existing software
offerings that are delivered to clients through on-premise or cloud
computing models.
"The acquisition of Varicent advances IBM's efforts to drive
analytics capabilities into the hands of front line employees to
transform business operations and ultimately improve the bottom
line," said Les Rechan, general
manager, business analytics, IBM. "For the thousands of sales
organizations still relying on silos of data, spreadsheets and
e-mail to manage sales, there is an enormous opportunity to apply
analytics to this vital area of business and uncover new, untapped
growth opportunities."
"Sales Performance Management is still viewed by many in the
industry as an art versus a science, but there is plenty of
opportunity for this mind set to change," said Dan Shimmerman, president and CEO, Varicent. "As
part of IBM, we can now bring our technological expertise in
maturing and advancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the
sales function to a broader range of clients across the globe who
are looking to improve their processes, and strategically align
incentive compensation with profitable growth."
With growing volumes of data, companies are increasingly looking
for ways to automate and gain faster, more accurate intelligence on
sales and financial management data in order to increase
competitiveness. According to Gartner, organizations that
adopt compensation management solutions can expect to reduce errors
by more than 90 percent and reduce processing times by more than 40
percent.
Varicent's software automates and integrates all aspects of
sales, client and financial performance management across the
enterprise, which is traditionally a labor intensive process.
Unlike traditional tools, Varicent provides a single management
system that relies on a sophisticated calculation engine to model
and analyze the effectiveness of incentive spend.
The software allows clients such as banks, insurance companies,
retailers, information technology and telecommunications providers
to more accurately determine compensation, streamline territory
assignments, manage quotas, and report and analyze sales
activities. The software also strengthens audit and
compliance readiness and provides transparency for all aspects of
incentive compensation.
Founded in 2003, Varicent has more than 180 customers using its
software, including: Starwood Hotels, Covidien, Dex One, Manpower,
Hertz, Office Depot and Farmers.
IBM will combine Varicent with its R&D and prior
acquisitions including Algorithmics, Clarity Systems, OpenPages,
Cognos and SPSS, to expand IBM capabilities in business analytics
and optimization across finance, sales, and customer service
operations. These acquisitions are part of IBM's larger focus
on analytics, which spans hardware, software, services and
research.
IBM has established the world's deepest portfolio of analytics
solutions, business and industry expertise. This includes almost
9,000 dedicated business analytics and optimization consultants and
400 researchers. IBM secures hundreds of patents a year in
analytics, and continues to expand its ecosystem, which consists of
more than 27,000 IBM business partners. IBM has also created eight
global analytics solution centers in Berlin, Beijing, Dallas, London, New
York, Tokyo, Washington and Zurich.
These investments have enabled IBM to introduce Smarter
Analytics Signature Solutions to address vital client issues such
as fraud detection, financial operations and customer
service. They have also led to breakthrough technologies like
IBM Watson, a new class of industry specific analytical capability
that uses deep content analysis, evidence-based reasoning and
natural language processing to identify relationships buried in
large volumes of data that can be used to improve decision
making.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and
is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012. With the
closing of this acquisition, it is expected that all of Varicent's
employees will join IBM's Software Group.
About Varicent Software Incorporated
Varicent Software Incorporated, a global pioneer in Incentive
Compensation and Sales Performance Management delivers innovative,
industry-leading solutions for finance, sales, human resources and
IT departments in high-performing companies across industries.
Varicent solutions streamline administrative processes, maximize
efficiencies and drive improved sales performance. In addition to
ranking in the top 5 two years running, in the PROFIT 100 list of
Canada's Fastest Growing Companies
by PROFIT Magazine, Varicent was named the highest overall "hot"
vendor in the Ventana Research 2011 SPM Value Index.
For additional information, please visit:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/announce/varicent/
For more information about IBM and Analytics, please visit:
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27163.wss
IBM YouTube Analytics Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ibmbusinessanalytics
Media Contacts:
Lia P. Davis
IBM Media Relations
1-202-285-5333
lia.p.davis@us.ibm.com
Kristine A. Nalbone
IBM Media Relations
1-917-472-3656
knalbon@us.ibm.com
SOURCE IBM