SAP Has Acquired Customer Identity And Access Management Company Gigya
SAP has acquired Gigya in a deal that is valued at around $350m. Gigya claims to help organisations “build digital relationships with their customers”. It also manages their profile (like a CRM system), their preferences, opt-ins (and outs) and consent settings.
SAP sees Gigya’s software as a potential answer to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). set to come into full force in May 2018. Customers are now able to opt-in and register via Gigya’s registration-as-a-service.
A SAP Hybris statement added that it intends to become “the first organisation 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”.
Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya, added:
“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.
“This is a vital step for digitalising 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 uniquely positioned to drive more effective marketing, sales and service through data, while the customer stays in control of how much data is shared.”
In November 2014, the company’s gigya.com domain was hijacked by the Syrian Electronic Army group of hackers. The company claims that no sensitive data was compromised in the attack. This aligns with the fact that nearly half of all businesses (46%) reported a cyber breach or attack in the past 12 months, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Source: Graeme Burton for Computing Research 2017.
