Convergys Takes Stake in Ceon

A long time provider of business support systems and relationship management, Convergys, dipped its toe into the OSS space on Thursday by taking an equity stake in and forming an alliance with Ceon.

Ceon provides product lifecycle management and fulfillment software to telecom and cable service providers. Ceon and Convergys will integrate certain products and solution sets, including — and especially — Ceon’s layered product catalog. The Ceon Product Control Center, of which the product catalog is a part, will follow the roadmap of Convergys’ Infinys billing system.

The integration is expected to result in enhanced capabilities for Infinys, including: product lifecycle consulting, improved order capture, reduced time-to-market for new product introduction and enhanced product portfolio management.

The amount of Convergys’ investment was not disclosed at this time, but the financial relationship with help ensure the companies move in the same technical direction, said Kevin Smith, senior director of strategic alliances at Convergys.

“We found as we watched this space mature, that the product catalog is at the center of a lot of what we are trying to in the BSS,” Smith said.

Smith added that Ceon brings a lot of expertise from the OSS side of the business working in service fulfillment and order management. “That is one of the benefits of the relationship,” he said. “We see Ceon as having two arms that reach into the BSS side with their catalog as well as the OSS side with activation and provisioning. We are happy that they address both those needs in their product.”

Smith said the intent of the investment was to reduce the barriers to working together both technically and from a business perspective. “That’s how strategic we felt this was. We both put stakes in the ground so we could be candid and work well together.”

As to why Convergys didn’t just buy Ceon outright, Smith said, “You evolve your understanding of what you want to do and this is a way for us to keep exploring the market while getting some of the benefits of financial investment.”

Ceon closed out 2007 with sales of its product catalog to COLT, a European service provider and Nordisk Mobiltelefon AB (NMT), a mobile communications operator licensed in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland and Ireland.

Convergys Corp.     www.convergys.com
Ceon Corp.   www.ceon.com