KANA Software Announces Growth and Expansion in EMEA Operations, Key
Executive Appointments; Six Months Following the Acquisition of Ciboodle,
KANA Shores up Resources to Serve Expanding European Client Roster
GLASGOW, January 15, 2013 – KANA
global leader in customer service solutions delivered on-premise or in the
cloud and used by more than 900 organizations worldwide, including half of
the Global 100 and 250 government entities, today announced the continued
growth and expansion of its European operations, as well as the appointment
of several new executive management posts.
The new resources will be devoted to serving KANA’s growing European client
base. The company has won significant new business with a number of new
customers including Barclays, Eircom, IFDS and Mobile Money.
KANA is also pleased to report that numerous customers have leveraged their
KANA customer experience management infrastructure to support call center
excellence, in some cases to international acclaim, as in the case of
ScottishPower
recently named the winner in the Most Improved Calls category and also named
to the prestigious Call Centre Focus Top 50 Call Centres for Customer
Service
Service Direct Debit Operations, which tracks customer preferences and
offers services online from bill paying to meter reading.
New R&D Center, Go-to-Market Partners, Management Appointments
To support the company’s growth in Europe, the Glasgow campus has been named
a key software research and development center. Alongside its sister R&D
facilities in Belfast and Sunnyvale, Calif., Glasgow will be one of the
company’s main R&D hubs for the KANA Enterprise
product. The Glasgow campus will house the development groups responsible
for driving the development of new products, as well as the company’s
professional services group. KANA is acquiring new talent in both these
areas, expanding headcount by some 20%. The company is also looking to hire
additional Project Management, Business Analyst and Sales personnel.
The company also announced several new executive management appointments,
expanding its European leadership team. Importantly, all of the recent
management appointments are former Ciboodle executives who have been
retained by KANA to grow the company’s operations in Europe. These include
Kenny Bain who is now general manager, EMEA; Steven Thurlow, head of
worldwide product strategy; Paul White, sales director for EMEA; and Michael
Cairns, head of professional services for EMEA.
KANA Benefits from Continued Investment in CRM, Customer Service and Call
Center Initiatives
While economic difficulties in Western Europe have slowed software sales
overall, KANA is benefiting from organizations’ continued investment in
customer service initiatives and CRM – both in the commercial and public
sectors. CRM (customer relationship management) software ranks within the
fastest-growing segments, according to figures released in November 2012 by
analyst firm IDC. Three of four CRM market subcategories showed double-digit
growth so far this year, with contact center applications seeing a
single-digit increase, according to IDC. Customer service, sales and
marketing had a roughly 12% growth rate overall. The report also says CRM
license sales are growing as companies replace aging on-premises systems
with cloud-based offerings.
KANA also saw its business benefit from organizations’ continuing investment
in customer experience management technology to address key operational
imperatives such as channel shift and cost optimization, and to leverage new
delivery mechanisms, such as the Cloud.
“Given current economic conditions, it is perhaps more important than ever
for organizations to look at how they can improve customer service and
customer advocacy efforts and KANA is well positioned to assist them,” said
Kenny Bain, general manager, for KANA in EMEA. “With our Enterprise and
cloud-based Express solutions oriented to meet the needs of the midmarket,
we offer organizations a technology portfolio unparalleled in depth and
vision, combining deep contact center experience with web customer service
expertise, on a global basis.”
About KANA Software
KANA makes every customer experience a good experience. A global leader in
customer service solutions delivered on-premise or in the cloud, KANA lets
organizations take complete control over customer service interactions, so
they can take care of customers, while managing costs and reinforcing brand.
By unifying and maintaining context for customer journeys across agent, web,
social and mobile experiences, KANA solutions have reduced handling time,
increased resolution rates and improved net promoter score (NPS) at more
than 900 enterprises, including half of the Global 100 and more than 250
government agencies. KANA is based in Silicon Valley, California and has
offices worldwide.
Follow KANA on Twitter: http://twitter.com/KANAsoftware
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KANA is a registered trademark of KANA Software, Inc. All other company and
product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
