Aspect Acquires Assets of Applied Information Management Limited

Aspect, a unified communications and contact center software and services provider, today announced it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Applied Information Management Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary, AIM Technology, Inc. (collectively, “AIM Technology”), a provider of analytical performance management software solutions with global headquarters in the United Kingdom. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
 
AIM Technology provides performance management software solutions that help companies continuously motivate, measure and manage employees. The acquired product, which will now be known as PerformanceEdge™ Performance Management™, provides performance management, coaching, employee review and workflow functionality. Its capabilities help streamline the coaching process to reduce the amount of time contact centers spend manually conducting mundane tasks and raises performance visibility to the executive level. The employee review process can be automated and tracked, including performance metrics populated in individual review forms.
 
“Aspect is aggressively pursuing ways to bring enterprises, including contact centers,  even more value – especially given today’s increased pressure for greater productivity,” said Jim Foy, president and CEO at Aspect. “With this acquisition, we are delivering on our commitment to help companies bring unified communications (UC) applications to their enterprises to address contact center and workforce optimization challenges in a brand new way.”
 
Aspect now gains control of a technology that is central to contact center workforce optimization and will deliver performance management capabilities across PerformanceEdge applications. Building on the analysis and reporting services of Microsoft SQL Server, PerformanceEdge Performance Management centralizes data from disparate sources, manages workflow and provides one reliable version of metrics upon which managers can base performance tracking and decision making. This helps organizations automate the coaching process and ensures that contact centers are better able to meet customer-facing goals with fewer resources.
 
“We are seeing a growing need for performance management as most contact centers lack the time to isolate poor performers and put corrective measures in place, which can lead to lost revenue and high customer attrition,” said Paul Stockford, president and chief analyst Saddletree Research. “With the acquisition of AIM Technology, Aspect truly rounds out its PerformanceEdge offering and is able to deliver all of the workforce optimization applications companies need to get the most from their staff.  And, it is exciting to see companies like Aspect leading the contact center industry during the current economic environment by maintaining a continued focused on their customers, their prospects and their technology portfolios and making the kind of confident moves that will ensure even greater value to their customers and prospects in the future.”
 
“The AIM Technology performance management capabilities are an ideal addition to the leading workforce management, quality management, campaign management and eLearning capabilities found in PerformanceEdge,” said Tony Hayward, former CEO of AIM. “Our product has a track record of success in leading companies’ complex contact center and back office environments in the financial services, insurance, retail, travel and outsourcing industries and we are looking forward to bringing these leading capabilities to Aspect customers and prospects.”
 
As part of the acquisition, Aspect welcomes a team of experienced R&D, support and professional services individuals, including Justin Smith, former head of research & development from AIM, who joins the PerformanceEdge Group, Russell Parsons, who joins Aspect® Professional Services, and Hayward, who brings his 30 years of expertise to the Aspect executive team.
 
“Whether as a standalone capability or tightly integrated and synchronized in the PerformanceEdge suite, PerformanceEdge Performance Management will help organizations optimize their most costly resource – their staff – and deliver the tools and results companies need to stay competitive and profitable while delivering the best customer experience,” said Foy.
 
About PerformanceEdge
PerformanceEdge combines workforce management, quality management, performance management, campaign management, and coaching and eLearning to enable organizations to holistically respond to changing business conditions. The PerformanceEdge capabilities dynamically interoperate to help contact center managers consider everything and act immediately, ultimately making it easier for inbound, outbound and blended contact centers to control costs, enhance service levels and align performance with strategic goals. For more information, visit www.performanceedgesuite.com.

About Aspect
Aspect provides software and consulting services that turn the potential of unified communications into real business results across the enterprise and in the contact center.  Applying 35 years of insight and experience, Aspect helps two-thirds of the FORTUNE Global 100, as well as small and medium enterprises, power their business processes with communications.  For more information, visit www.aspect.com.