News

Combo aims at growing CIM market

Davox Corp. has agreed to fellow customer information management (CIM) specialist Cellit Inc.'s offer for $10.15 million in cash and 544,217 shares of its common stock, which will be released to Cellit's preferred shareholders over a two year period. The combined firm will be called Concerto Software, Inc. once the deal is completed at the end of this month, officials said.

James Foy, current Davox CEO who will also head Concerto, said the combined firm will provide users a CIM solution that allows companies to more effectively manage customer communication across multiple interaction channels, including telephone, fax, email and the Web to better communicate with customers, improve customer service, and reduce operating costs.

Foy said the combination results in a "combination of complementary strengths—Cellit's innovative technology coupled with Davox's solutions, financial strength and global sales and support infrastructure."

Alex Tellez, the current Cellit president and CEO, will become Concerto's executive vice president of engineering, Foy said. Other key employees in research & development, sales, and services will remain with the new firm, the company said.

Officials of the combined firm cited, as justification of the move, research from UK-based Ovum Ltd. that projects that the worldwide market for CIM products of $979 million in 2001 will grow at a 33% compound annual rate to $5.4 billion by 2006.

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About the Author

Mike Bucken is former Editor-in-Chief of Application Development Trends magazine.