DENVER, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTEC), a
leading global provider of e-commerce-enabling customer management solutions,
and iXL Inc., a premiere strategic Internet services firm and wholly owned
subsidiary of iXL Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq: IIXL), today announced the
formation of a strategic alliance to deliver Internet-enabled customer
relationship management (CRM) solutions to large enterprises.
The companies will team up to design and implement CRM solutions that
transform traditional customer service infrastructures -- largely centered on
telephone support -- to Web-enabled, multi-channel, customer care centers.
TeleTech brings Internet-enabled customer interaction expertise built on its
CyberCare(TM) technology platform to the partnership. iXL offers its
capabilities in the strategy, design and building of large-scale strategic
e-business initiatives. TeleTech's Fortune 500 customers, Ford, GTE and
American Express have asked the company to play an even larger role in
developing e-enabled CRM capabilities.
"As companies transform themselves from product- to customer-centric,
e-Customer relationship management will become the next business-critical
application," said Ken Tuchman, TeleTech Chairman. "Companies need to
leverage the Internet to maximize customer loyalty and one-to-one intimacy.
Aligning ourselves with the leading provider of strategic Internet-based
solutions for e-business will enable us to add significant breadth and depth
to what we can offer to our clients. We are excited about the opportunity
that this alliance with iXL presents."
"The combination of TeleTech's e-Care management platform and iXL's
e-business and ERM expertise sets a new mark for companies seeking to get
closer to their customers," said Justin Behar, senior e-business services
analyst at GartnerGroup/Dataquest. "GartnerGroup predicts that the
marketplace for enterprise relationship management (ERM) will be more than
$10.3 billion by 2001."
Analyst firm International Data Corp. measured the related CRM outsourcing
market at $30 billion in 1999 with an anticipated 19 percent annual rate of
growth.
"Today's winning companies understand the need to connect every aspect of
the enterprise to serve their customers more effectively," said Bert Ellis,
Chairman and CEO of iXL. Together with TeleTech, we can now deliver a
comprehensive and compelling set of solutions that will accelerate the
e-transformation of our joint customers from brick-and-mortar to
click-and-mortar."
Customer Relationship Management is a new paradigm emerging in today's
competitive, technology-driven marketplace. CRM systems enable
customer-driven companies to better understand and market to their customers
using advanced technology. CRM systems integrate advanced technologies like
data warehousing and data mining to turn enterprise-wide data into useful
information. Once the data is gathered and analyzed, companies can detect
trends about what, when and how their customers are buying to help them in
areas of customer retention, acquisition and cross sell opportunities.
CRM systems are an important part of a company's Enterprise Relationship
Management strategy (ERM). Through ERM, today's leading companies are
deploying digitally driven technology, networks, systems, and workflow
strategies to reduce the latency between suppliers, partners, distributors and
customers. Supplying world class ERM and CRM programs for e-business is the
objective of the TeleTech/iXL relationship.
TELETECH PROFILE
Founded in 1982, TeleTech is a leading provider of integrated,
e-commerce-enabling customer management solutions (eCRM) for global
organizations predominantly in the telecommunications, financial services,
technology, government and transportation industries. TeleTech operates more
than 11,900 state-of-the- art customer interaction center workstations and
employs more than 16,300 people in nine countries. Its innovative customer
interaction platform, CyberCare(TM), integrates the full spectrum of voice and
Internet communications, including custom e-mail response, "chat" and
extensive Web co-browsing capabilities. Through 29 customer interaction
centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, TeleTech couples high-velocity
e-infrastructure service deployment with premier quality e-customer
relationship management to assure our clients/partners unparalleled success in
acquiring, retaining and growing customer relationships. Information
regarding TeleTech Holdings can be found on the Worldwide Web at
http://www.teletech.com.
iXL INC. PROFILE
iXL, Inc. is a premier Internet consulting firm, offering end-to-end
strategic, creative and technology solutions to businesses. From assessment
and design to rapid implementation, iXL partners with clients to provide
integrated Internet services that bring ideas to action -- faster.
Headquartered in Atlanta with more than 20 offices in the United States,
Europe and Japan, iXL is a business unit of iXL Enterprises, Inc.
(Nasdaq: IIXL). For more information, visit http://www.ixl.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
All statements not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements
that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In accordance with the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, following are important
factors that could cause TeleTech's actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: There can be no
assurance that TeleTech will be able to maintain or accelerate its growth
rate, or maintain its profitability. TeleTech's agreements with its clients
generally do not assure that TeleTech will generate a specific level of
revenue, do not designate TeleTech as the client's exclusive service provider,
and are terminable by the clients on relatively short notice. The loss of one
or more of its significant clients, or the loss or delay in implementation of
a large customer management program, could cause quarterly variations in
TeleTech's revenues. There also can be no assurance that TeleTech can build-
out facilities in a timely and economic manner. TeleTech's profitability is
significantly influenced by its customer interaction center capacity
utilization and TeleTech may experience excess peak period capacity when it
opens new or expands an existing customer interaction center or terminates or
completes a large client program. Readers are encouraged to review TeleTech's
1998 Annual Report on Form 10-K and 1999 Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for
the first, second and third quarters of 1999, which describe other important
factors that may impact TeleTech's business, results of operations and
financial condition.
SOURCE TeleTech Holdings, Inc.
Web site:
http://www.teletech.com
CONTACT: Michael Klatman of TeleTech Holdings, 303-894-7379,
michael.klatman@teletech.com; Media: Matt Conroy, 212-780-1900
ext. 539,
matt@stanton-crenshaw.com, for iXL; or Investors:
Barbara Domingo of iXL, 404-479-7053,
bdomingo@ixl.com
