November 2011 represented an unusual moment in the history of Customer Experience technology.
Just weeks earlier, Oracle had announced its agreement to acquire RightNow Technologies for approximately US$1.5 billion. Against this backdrop, the Virtuos leadership team, headed by Venky Vijay Reddi, CEO, attended the RightNow APAC Summit in Australia.
For Virtuos, it was both an opportunity to understand the next generation of RightNow CX technologies and to discuss what the impending transition to Oracle could mean for customers, partners and the future of the Virtuos–RightNow relationship.
01RightNow APAC Summit, 2011
Photos from the summit in Australia, November 2011.
02Discussing the Next Chapter
Conversations with senior RightNow leaders about the transition to Oracle.
03The Partner Session
Where CRMDomain.com made its debut.
RightNow → Oracle: Discussing the Next Chapter
During the summit, Venky Vijay Reddi held extensive discussions with senior RightNow leaders around the transition and the opportunities that could emerge once RightNow became part of Oracle.
Virtuos had already built a strong RightNow practice, with important customer engagements including MakeMyTrip and Fundtech.
The acquisition therefore represented much more than industry news. It potentially connected Virtuos' established Cloud CRM expertise with one of the world's largest enterprise technology ecosystems.
RightNow
Had helped Virtuos build its Cloud CRM practice.
Oracle
Could open the next chapter.
CRMDomain.com Makes Its Debut
The summit also became the stage for a new Virtuos initiative:
Introducing
CRMDomain.com
Curating CRM best practices — Technology · Knowledge · Solutions · Customer Experience
During the Partner Session, Virtuos presented CRMDomain, conceived as a dedicated CRM destination bringing together technologies, solutions and—more ambitiously—CRM knowledge and best practices in one place.
The original proposition included showcasing solutions from RightNow and Maximizer, particularly through accessible packages for small and medium businesses.
But the broader vision was larger:
- Curate CRM best practices.
- Simplify technology discovery.
- Share practical CRM knowledge.
- Connect businesses with relevant solutions.
CRMDomain.com was an early attempt by Virtuos to turn years of CRM implementation experience into a more accessible knowledge and demand-generation platform.
Contemporary records from September 2011 also described CRMDomain.com as a unified platform for CRM and Customer Experience solutions in India and international markets.
Exploring the Future of Customer Experience
The APAC Summit showcased several emerging RightNow technologies, including:
- Virtual Contact Center
- Intent-Based AI Engine
- Advanced Agent Scripting
- Integrated Sales, Service, Marketing & Analytics
The direction was increasingly clear: CRM was evolving into a much broader Customer Experience platform, connecting channels and reducing organizational silos.
A Senior Technical Manager from MakeMyTrip also attended the summit, providing an opportunity for one of Virtuos' landmark customers to better understand the future roadmap of the RightNow CX Suite.
From the Archives
Australia · November 2011
This summit brought together three important threads in the Virtuos journey.
RightNow
A formative technology partnership.
Oracle
A new enterprise ecosystem about to emerge through the acquisition.
CRMDomain.com
Virtuos' own attempt to curate CRM knowledge, best practices and technology choices.
For Venky and the Virtuos leadership team, the conversations in Australia were therefore as much about what came next as what had already been achieved.
The platform was changing. The ownership was changing. CRM itself was changing—and Virtuos was preparing for the next chapter.
