RightNow Technologies

RightNow Technologies was established in 1997 by Greg Gianforte, a serial software entrepreneur, in Bozeman, Montana. Gianforte, who holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, identified an opportunity created by the rise of the internet, which was disrupting the communication channels between businesses and their customers. He founded the company without external capital, aiming to develop a cloud-delivered internet software for customer experience. The initial focus was on a customer service product with an integrated knowledge base. The business operated on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, selling subscriptions directly to large, consumer-facing businesses.

The company's primary offering was the RightNow CX suite, a customer experience platform designed to help organizations manage interactions across various channels. This suite was segmented into the RightNow Web Experience, Social Experience, Contact Center Experience, and RightNow Engage. Functionally, it provided tools for customer service, sales, and marketing, including features like a knowledge base, email response management, live chat, social media monitoring, and analytics. The platform aimed to provide a unified view of customer interactions, reduce operational costs by shifting interactions to self-service channels, and improve the overall customer experience. Clients included major corporations such as Nike, Travelocity, and Motorola.

RightNow Technologies expanded through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. In 2006, it acquired sales force automation company Salesnet, and in 2009, it purchased social networking company HiveLive to bolster its social media capabilities. Another key acquisition was Q-go in 2011 for its semantic search and natural language processing technology. The company went public in 2004, and by 2011, it employed over 1,000 people. A significant milestone occurred in October 2011 when Oracle announced its intention to acquire RightNow Technologies for approximately $1.5 billion, a deal that was finalized in early 2012. Following the acquisition, the product was integrated into the Oracle Service Cloud, part of the broader Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience (CX) suite.

Keywords: RightNow Technologies, Greg Gianforte, customer experience management, CX, CRM software, software-as-a-service, SaaS, Oracle Service Cloud, cloud computing, customer service software, knowledge base, contact center solutions, web self-service, social CRM, email response management, Oracle acquisition, enterprise software, multichannel customer service, customer interaction management, sales force automation