CallidusCloud Acquires Datahug
On Monday, CallidusCloud, a provider of sales, marketing, learning, and customer experience solutions, announced its acquisition of Datahug, a predictive sales forecasting and analytics company, for $13 million. According to Giles House, CallidusCloud's chief marketing officer, the Dublin, Ireland–based outfit will apply its expertise to further build out CallidusCloud's Lead to Money platform and form its Predictive Analytics, AI and Machine Learning Innovation Center.
CallidusCloud's Lead to Money platform aims to help organizations speed up and improve the process of identifying prospects and engaging them to close new business, House says. The suite of products includes tools designed to help managers ensure they properly distribute territory and quota responsibilities among sales reps, automate configure-price-quote (CPQ) processes, streamline compensations, and collect customer feedback.
With the Datahug purchase, CallidusCloud acquires not only its predictive forecasting capabilities but also tools to further improve field-based coaching, House points out. Drawing from CRM data, Datahug's software allows users to view the interactions sales reps have with accounts and assigns each account a score based on how likely it is to close. When a manager is leading a coaching session, for instance, he can use the additional information, displayed alongside accompanying analytics, to drive a deal ahead, thus stimulating win rates and boosting sales cycles.
The technology will eventually be incorporated into a new version of CallidusCloud's analytics platform. The updated version will include prescriptive recommendations within each of CallidusCloud's separate applications, which will all be available as part of a bundled suite, as well as individually.
"When you're putting a quote together [using CPQ], the machine can start suggesting what sort of discount level you should be starting at; [and] for commissions, it can suggest what sort of incentives you should put in place to drive a deal," House says. It can also work to assist professionals decide what pieces of content they should be sharing with their intended audience during a sales cycle, whether it's a white paper, a slide deck presentation, or an article, for example.
The acquisition is CallidusCloud’s third of the year, following that of Badgeville, a provider of enterprise gamification solutions, in late
June, and ViewCentral LLC, a provider of enterprise learning solutions, in April.
CallidusCloud serves approximately 5,000 customers—mostly large sales organizations, with the smallest ranging from 50 to 100 employees. These firms tend to fall within the hi-tech, manufacturing, and telecommunications spheres; however, more recently, the vendor has begun expanding into retail, House notes.
According to House, joining forces with Datahug will grant it access to the real estate market and allow it to expand further into the financial services market, where they hold a notable presence. Customers of Datahug’s predictive forecasting technology include companies like Nitro, Instructure, G2 Crowd, McCann Fitzgerald, and Scottish Equity Partners.
"CallidusCloud brings a wealth of experience in our target markets and a loyal customer base who will be keen to tap into the value of Predictive Analytics that accelerate sales," said Ray Smith, cofounder and CEO of Datahug, said in a statement. "We're looking forward to working with the team to deliver unique value to the large addressable market for sales force automation and acceleration.”
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