June 15, 2006

SSA Global Announces SSA Sales 7.0 CRM

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

SSA Global, a vendor of enterprise business software and services, has announced the general availability of SSA Sales 7.0 and SSA Service 7.0, what company officials call “a major enhancement to the company’s suite of customer relationship management products, SSA CRM, powered by E.piphany.”

The enhanced product provides companies with a tactical and strategic solution to improve current and future sales, service and marketing technology deployments, according to company officials, providing “a comprehensive 360 degree view of each customer by providing a shared customer and product list that streamlines the sales quotation, order creation and service processes.”

“SSA Sales 7.0 and SSA Service 7.0 were developed in direct response to our customers’ demands for enhanced technology that helps improve their ability to measure, predict and increase sales and service performance,” according to Cory A. Eaves, chief technology officer, SSA Global. “SSA Sales 7.0 and SSA Service 7.0 leverage SSA Open Architecture, the SSA Global services-oriented architecture to enable integration with existing and future systems.”

Last month Infor Global Solutions said it was acquiring SSA Global Technologies Inc. for $19.50 per share, or about $1.4 billion in cash, according to InfoWorld Daily.

The combined company, which will have about $1.6 billion in revenue, InfoWorld Daily thinks “gains more muscle to compete globally with enterprise software providers Oracle (News - Alert) Corp. and SAP (News - Alert) AG.”

Ray Wang, senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts told InfoWorld Daily that the move will also help Infor to build out applications based on SOA and with expertise in a vertical industry, as both companies have made inroads into the manufacturing industry.

SSA Global, the publication said, “based in Chicago, has been on a shopping spree of its own in recent years, acquiring such companies as ERM (enterprise risk management) software provider Baan in 2003 and CRM maker Ephiphany Inc. last year.”

David Sims is contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims’ columnist page.

(source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/it/-crm-ssa-global-/2006/06/15/1683661.htm)