Verint's Acquisition of KANA Targets Customer Engagement Opportunities

Deal aims to offer enterprises ability to capture and manage cross-functional information around customer interactions, business processes and workforce performance.

Illustrating that solutions that help companies foster stronger customer engagement are going to be an increasingly hot area for technology investment, Verint Systems Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire KANA Software, Inc., a provider of customer service solutions delivered both on-premises and in the cloud. The acquisition is intended to extend Verint's Actionable Intelligence strategy, according to the Melville, N.Y.-based company, which says the collective solutions from Verint and KANA will enable organizations to implement an end-to-end, single-vendor suite to help transform customer engagement.

The acquisition of KANA, a portfolio company of Accel-KKR, is expected to be completed in Verint's first fiscal quarter ending April 30, 2014. Verint has agreed to acquire KANA for approximately $514 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.

According to Verint, the combined product suite of collective solutions would offer global enterprises the ability to capture and manage cross-functional information around customer interactions, business processes and workforce performance to improve operational efficiency, reduce risk and enhance customer loyalty, while driving revenue performance.

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The combined organizations offer a blend of software and services that span workforce optimization (WFO) and customer service and support offerings. Verint offers WFO and Voice of the Customer Analytics capabilities including voice recording, voice biometrics, quality monitoring, speech analytics, text analytics, enterprise feedback management, workforce management, performance management, desktop and process analytics, e-learning and coaching. KANA offers customer service solutions such as agent desktop, case management, knowledge management, and email, chat and social media response management.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio