Magnitude Software Expands Its Digital Commerce Offerings With PIM Software Developer Acquisition

Magnitude Software, a developer of digital insights, analytics and data management software, has acquired a 37-person supplier of product information management (PIM) applications as it looks to expand its product offerings for digital agencies, manufacturers and retailers playing in the fast-moving e-commerce space.

The acquired company, York, U.K.-based Agility Multichannel, develops its Agility software for managing and syndicating product content from a centralized hub and integrating it with digital commerce and digital experience platforms, such as those from Adobe, IBM and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

"All of these organizations are looking to aggressively differentiate and digitally enable themselves to compete through these multiple channels and create a more personalized experience for the end customers," Darren Peirce, CTO and vice president of products at Magnitude, said of his company's customer base in an interview with CRN. "We see tremendous opportunity to provide software solutions that can connect to a wide-variety of sources and then ultimately curate and prepare that data."

[Related: Cognizant To Acquire Top Adobe Partner Netcentric To Boost Its Digital Marketing Prowess]

Magnitude, formed in 2014 by the merging of Noetix and Kalido, joins a growing wave of investment occurring in the digital commerce space. Top solution providers Accenture and Cognizant are among the companies joining the fray, with the Dublin-based consulting giant Accenture announcing its intentions to acquire French e-commerce specialist Altima just last week.

Gartner forecasts the e-commerce market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent between 2015 and 2020.

Peirce believes the increased interest is a result of legacy manufacturers and retailers pushing to sell digitized products directly to consumers via personalized experiences, as well as distributors fighting to cope with those pressures.

He said Magnitude will be able to better serve chief marketing officers not only by adding Agility's PIM platform to its digital portfolio, but also by leveraging the software firm's existing geographic footholds and channel relationships.

Agility has more than 30 solutions partners and about a dozen with which it regularly collaborates, according to Agility Multichannel President and CEO Richard Hunt. Agility's Multi channel's solution provider partners include Accenture – No. 2 on the CRN Solution Provider 500 -- and Wipro, and also lists IBM, Salesforce.com, Red Hat and Adobe among its roster of technology partners.

"We do see great potential synergies in other areas of the business to leverage the strong relationships Agility has developed and built," Peirce said. "That's going to be a key area of focus for us. By and large, most of our go-to-market has been historically direct in that business. We see more opportunities to leverage the partner ecosystem in a broader way, and by expanding our direct presence in the U.K. and European markets, where Agility has a greater presence."

Financial details of the acquisition, which has closed, were not made available.

Magnitude plans to integrate Agility into its corporate performance management (CPM) practice, where Peirce said Magnitude has more than 300 manufacturing and distribution customers, and its master data management (MDM) practice. Hunt will become VP of Agility Solutions in the newly-combined company of 350 employees.

Garvin Prenzing, director of enterprise marketing solutions at German consulting and professional services firm LYNX, said his company is an MDM, marketing and commerce specialist that has been an Agility solutions partner for the past six years. Many of their common clients come from the retail, apparel, travel and manufacturing spaces.

He said he believe Agility's PIM solution would work in "tight collaboration" with a wide array of systems integrators, digital agencies and consulting firms, particularly now given the added muscle Agility is expected to attain as part of its acquisition by Magnitude.

"We welcome the broader portfolio of applicable offerings (created) by Magnitude’s MDM platform, which delivers a multi-domain solution that fits highly specific and unique customer requirements," Prenzing told CRN. "This means Agility customers with additional MDM requirements – beyond PIM and multichannel commerce – have solutions options to fit their needs."