CRM Vendor Consolidation Continues (Through the Lens of the CDC – Saratoga Announcement)

Siebel, Onyx, Knova, Epiphany, FrontRange, ACCPAC CRM, Pivotal are all CRM vendors that have changed hands over the past few years.  Although I have blogged about this topic before, CDC’s announcement that they had acquired Saratoga Systems last week is further evidence that this consolidation trend is continuing unabated. With only 350 customers in play, this could be dismissed as a fairly minor event. In my new role, I spoke to Bruce McIntyre (new GM of Saratoga) shortly after the acquisition was announced – you can read about my views on the acquisition here.  No doubt there are going to be some organizational integration challenges, but he did paint a fairly comprehensive and well thought-out vertical vision for the firm.  Overall, I think it is hugely important to remember that acquisitions can have a big impact on the customer.  My piece for Aberdeen last week included this advice for customers of acquired firms:

• Review the acquiring company’s merger and acquisition strategy, history and track record in detail from both a business and technical perspective.  Talk to customers of acquiring company’s other product-lines about their post-acquisition experiences.  Monitor industry sources and the blogsphere for information and insight on the implications of the acquisition.
• Map the proposed benefits of the acquisition to your current and future product needs.  Demand a periodic review of detailed product roadmaps.
• Watch personnel movements carefully – product releases could be delayed and product strategies could quickly change if key employees are not retained.
• Be on the lookout for integration news and new product capabilities based on the acquiring company’s other product-lines. Integration efforts could delay planned product release and promised capabilities.
• Understand the acquiring company’s drivers and motivations for the acquisition.   Have they bought technology, an installed base of customers or their way into a new market space?  These motivations can impact go-to-market and product development plans.

I also spoke to a number of Saratoga and Pivotal customers last week.  By in large, Saratoga customers I spoke with seem pretty happy and are optimistic about the event and the Pivotal customers were also pretty positive about CDC as a whole.