According to a recent release, SAP has entered into an agreement to acquire Gigya, a market leader for customer identity and access management. Major independent analyst firms, most recently Forrester Research, have positioned Gigya as a top vendor in this field.
Gigya's customer identity and access management platform helps companies build digital relationships with their customers. Its platform allows companies to manage customers' profile, preference, opt-in and consent settings, with customers maintaining control of their data at all times. Customers opt in and register via Gigya's registration-as-a-service, which addresses changing geographical privacy issues and manages compliance requirements such as the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Gigya currently manages 1.3 billion customer identities in order to build identity-driven relationships for its enterprise clients.
Gigya, an SAP Hybris2 partner since 2013, has customers already using a solution extension from SAP Hybris and Gigya. This acquisition will enable the teams to further build upon this existing strong relationship.
"Gigya brings a wealth of skills and expertise that will significantly enhance the SAP Hybris Profile solution and allow us to take leadership of the emerging customer identity and access management market," said Carsten Thoma, president and cofounder, SAP Hybris. "Consumer trust is the main currency to succeed for customer-driven organizations. This is what Gigya is known and recognized for."
By way of the acquisition, SAP Hybris intends to offer a cloud-based data platform enabling companies to profile and convert new customers, gather accurate conclusions from disparate consumer engagement sources and collect data for enhanced consumer choices that are in line with regulations.
"Combining the data matching and enrichment capabilities of SAP Hybris Profile with Gigya's consent-based identity data and access management platform will allow us to identify consumers across channels and offer a robust single consumer profile," said Patrick Salyer, CEO, Gigya. "This is a vital step for digitalizing businesses because companies need to be able to draw accurate conclusions seamlessly across all channels, including web, mobile, in-store or connected devices, and the Internet of Things, as well as collect data about consumer preferences. Together we are well positioned to drive more effective marketing, sales and service through data, while the customer stays in control of how much data is shared."
Gigya has more than 300 employees and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company's operations will become part of the SAP Hybris business unit for customer engagement and commerce. The transaction is expected to close in the final quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approval. Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
