Provider adds mobile expertise to enterprise-class service lifecycle management suite
Horsham, PA September 23, 2005 Astea International Inc., a provider of service management software solutions, today announced that it acquired FieldCentrix, a mobile field force automation company.
Astea said the acquisition strengthens its position of providing an end-to-end enterprise solution that addresses the service management lifecycle process, as it now has enhanced mobile capabilities.
As many of the world's largest service organizations continue to merge or make acquisitions, companies are looking to integrate disparate business operations. Astea's back-end integration capabilities will be incorporated with FieldCentrix's mobile solutions for handhelds, laptops and PDAs.
Astea will also acquire a base in California, where FieldCentrix's team of engineers, sales and support specialists will remain. FieldCentrix is a Microsoft Gold Partner, and said that its use of mobility and emerging mobile technologies will give Astea's global customer base new ways to update and streamline service organizations, which increasingly support hundreds of remote locations and mobile technical teams.
Both the Astea and FieldCentrix solutions address the complexity of managing large, global service operations, including optimizing and managing inventory and parts, maintaining equipment and other assets, supporting call centers and providing product-specific information to the field. The solutions support a broad range of applications and desktop and mobile platforms.
Astea and FieldCentrix said their vision of the combined companies is to enable the seamless integration of information and a common user-interface across all areas in the service management lifecycle, which can then lead to a reduction in process costs and lowered total cost of ownership.
Some of FieldCentrix's major customers include Honeywell, Ingersoll-Rand Co. Limited, and Praxair. Astea said it welcomes the FieldCentrix customers and looks forward to continuing the level of support and service regarding their service management practices moving forward.
"We're improving how our customers support the field and touch their customers," said Zack Bergreen, chairman and CEO of Astea. "Combining Astea's real-time view of customer information and FieldCentrix's superior mobile capabilities lets them respond to changing conditions."
