June 13, 2014

Pegasystems acquires Firefly for co-browsing capabilities

It was announced recently that Pegasystems is acquiring Firefly. Pegasystems, the creator of Better Business Software is interested in Profeatable Corporation, which creates Firefly, a co-browsing technology that allows customers to share Internet browser screens.

According to a press release, Firefly's technology allows users to collaborate in the cloud. Pegasystems will be able to use this technology in some of its existing sales and customer service applications.

By incorporating this functionality, the company will be able to provide a better product. Co-browsing allows companies to engage in secure online collaboration. For example, customers can share information with their clients, allowing for real-time collaboration, according to the release. Some of the benefits of co-browsing is that it allows for greater levels of engagement and productivity. 

"Today's organizations need to better engage their digital customers and deliver more personalized experiences," said Alan Trefler, Founder and CEO of Pegasystems in a press release. "Firefly's collaboration technology will empower our customers to provide superior dynamic co-browsing in a unified architecture and, in the future, chat and video capabilities."

As Tech Crunch reports, Firefly's founders will go on to join Pegasystems full-time. Pegasystems will not only be integrating the technology into an existing product, but will also maintain it under a separate brand name, according to the article. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

As we have discussed previously on this blog, part of an acquisition strategy for some companies is to gain technology that will improve their current offerings, allowing them to provide a superior product. In some cases, like this one, a company makes an acquisition for technology as well as talent. Companies looking to develop a strong acquisition strategy can benefit from consulting with an M&A advisor.