SAP to Acquire Wicom Communications

In a move that will enable companies to streamline and improve their customer-facing  processes, SAP is acquiring Wicom Communications, a provider of all-IP contact center and  enterprise communications software. Wicom, which is based in Finland, is a privately held company. Terms of the deal were  not disclosed.

Acquiring Wicom will enable SAP to offer companies the ability to better integrate  communications technologies and business systems, including customer relationship  management (CRM) and contact center applications.

For Wicom, the acquisition means expanded opportunities for customers to benefit from a  unified solution to manage communication-enabled business processes, Ilkka Kivimaki,  Wicom’s CEO, said in a statement. “Wicom firmly established itself as an innovator in improving the performance and quality of customer service, telesales and daily business interactions for our growing customer base. Together, SAP and Wicom will support communication-enabled business processes, starting with a complete solution for a multichannel all-IP contact center.”

The company’s current solution can be deployed using hosted, on-premises, or hybrid deployment models, and already provides standard Web-based integration to SAP’s CRM and  Interaction Center applications.

“The market is moving to a more communications-intensive enablement of business processes,” notes Bob Stutz, senior vice president and general manager of SAP’s CRM Strategy and Product. “With the addition of Wicom Communications, SAP will offer game-changing, communication-enabled business processes to organizations to help improve the customer experience, streamline operations, and lower total cost of ownership.”