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Avaya Acquires Agile Software to Leverage Strength in Mid-Size Contact Center Market

May 27, 2009

In an effort to better align itself with the needs of today’s mid-sized contact centers, Avaya has purchased Agile Software NZ. Avaya made the announcement today and Tim Greene reported the acquisition in NetworkWorld.


Agile is the same team that created and developed the call center software that Avaya currently markets to its midsize customers. With this acquisition, the company simply brings the team in-house to gain greater control over the development of this innovative technology.

According to Avaya, the control of the research and development processes for its Contact Center Express (CCE) software allows it to continue to develop new features more quickly. The company can also more tightly integrate the solution with other Avaya products.

CIO News also noted that owning Contact Center Express outright allows Avaya to speed its integration via Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with Avaya’s general communication-layer software.

The company will be able to integrate the solution with higher-end Avaya communications products for businesses that grow in size or increase communications demands. Tighter links with Dialogue Designer and Voice Portal, Avaya’s development and management software for self-service contact center applications will also be possible.

Although Avaya purchased Agile last week, the transaction price was not disclosed. Avaya owned 23 percent of the company already and this purchase is expected to give Avaya a better footing to compete with midsize offerings from competitors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Altitude, Aspect, Cisco, Interactive Intelligence and Nortel.

Mike Barbagallo, an analysts with Current Analysis, noted that overall, Avaya is currently the leader in contact center sales, although its history has been mixed. Avaya has a history of providing a product, dropping it, returning with two products, then OEMing from Agile.

Barbagallo went on the highlight that this particular deal indicates that the company is serious about its contact center offerings direction and will be able to develop faster, adding whatever they want without having to negotiate with Agile.

In addition to its purchase of Agile Software, Avaya has also announced the latest release of Avaya Contact Center Express 4.0.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for ContactCenterSolutions and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi



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