Scottsdale, Ariz. – September 15, 2006 – Sage Software, the North American subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, announced today that it has acquired the Corum Mobile Division of Corum Corporation, a privately-held software consulting and development company based in Concord, ON, Canada that specializes in mobile customer relationship management (CRM) technology. The acquisition was completed through Sage Software’s Canadian subsidiary, Sage Software Canada, Ltd. The acquisition solidifies Sage Software’s current and planned use of Corum’s industry-leading mobile CRM technology, which is already fully integrated with and available for Sage CRM SalesLogix. This mobile access technology will eventually be made available for all Sage CRM Solutions customers around the world, including millions of Sage CRM, SageCRM.com, and ACT! by Sage clients. The Corum Mobile Platform provides the infrastructure and functionality needed to design, build, deploy and manage scalable mobile applications that include mobile sales and field service automation.
“The Corum acquisition strengthens our CRM strategy because it allows Sage to broaden its CRM mobility solutions with a unified technology,” said Dave Batt, senior vice president and general manager of Global CRM for the Sage Group plc. “Sage CRM SalesLogix clients are already benefiting from Corum mobile access technology through a previously existing partnership. Recent research confirms mobile CRM technology is becoming increasingly important to our customers, and this acquisition strongly supports our desire to further address that need on a global basis, across our entire Sage CRM Solutions portfolio.”
Corum Corporation has been developing add-on solutions for Sage CRM SalesLogix since the product was first launched in April 1997. The Corum Mobile Platform supports BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Palm hand-held devices using the Windows Mobile operating system, and provides users with secure, always available, access to critical information within their existing enterprise software. Combining the Corum mobile platform with the Sage CRM SalesLogix product provides users with more access options to their data wherever they are and whenever they need it – via the office, the web, wireless, dial-up or cradle synchronization.
A recent study published by the Aberdeen Group supports the strategic importance of this acquisition by Sage Software in response to the growing demand for mobile technology solutions that expand the functionality of CRM systems. Comments Leslie Ament, Aberdeen Group practice leader and director for Customer Intelligence Research, “The increasing demands and pressures of selling within a global environment require that sales professionals have mobile access to real-time customer data.” Ament continues, “Our research demonstrates that top performing organizations provide sales professionals with access to vital customer information such as: key accounts, order status, and inventory availability at the point of customer interaction as a competitive edge. Annual benefits measured by these best-in-class performers include: revenue growth, increased sales productivity, and enhanced customer loyalty and retention rates.”1
Ronn Duby, Aberdeen Group research analyst and co-author of the report adds, “47 percent of all organizations polled plan on expanding their usage of mobile CRM technology within the next six months.”1
“This acquisition provides a path to enhance our best-of-breed client access environments for Sage CRM SalesLogix, including Blackberry, Pocket PC, Web client and remote users,” said Elvin Monteleone, Sage Software senior vice president and general manager for Sage CRM Solutions. “We have noted a significant growth of interest in mobile CRM in our customer base in North America, and in conversations with our partners and prospective customers. This acquisition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing them with the technology they need to continue to succeed.”
The addition of mobile CRM is another step in Sage’s global CRM strategy that provides small and mid-sized businesses with the broadest portfolio of customer relationship management products from any vendor. Sage’s new global approach to CRM takes advantage of the company’s strong local presence in countries around the world, where sales, service, and support capabilities serve 5 million businesses and work with 23,000 business partners and 40,000 accountant partners.
In addition to the Corum acquisition that strengthens the company’s mobile CRM offerings, in the past 10 months Sage has delivered Sage CRM SalesLogix v7; ACT! by Sage 2007 including Windows, Web, and Palm OS products; announced Sage Migrator, CRM software migration solutions; launched a global localization and hosting center; strengthened regional delivery and support capabilities with new training and education programs in Asia Pacific, Germany, Spain, and France; launched unified Sage CRM Solutions branding around the world; and launched Sage CRM in Spanish, French, and German versions.
1-Aberdeen Group, “Mobile Sales Solutions Benchmark Report,” published August 2006.
About Sage Software
Sage Software supports the needs, challenges, and dreams of more than 2.7 million small and mid-sized business customers in North America through easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software and services. Our products support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage Software is a subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, a leading international supplier of accounting and business management software solutions and related products and services for small and mid-sized businesses. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and the Group now has 5.2 million customers and employs over 13,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagesoftware.com/moreinfo or call (866) 308-2378.