BLUE Software acquires Viki Solutions

CHICAGO—BLUE Software, developers of BLUE, the leader in brand lifecycle management (BLM) software-as-a-service (SaaS), has acquired Viki Solutions of Victoria, BC, the worldwide leader in online proofing and real-time collaboration software technology, as part of its ongoing growth and expansion strategy.

Complementing current BLUE leadership across consumer products, retail and pharmaceutical industries, the addition of Viki Solutions will drive even more robust capabilities with simplified ease of use across the entire suite of BLUE modules and will bring BLUE to more pre-media and creative agencies, DAM (digital asset management) providers, digital and print publications among others.

“We are thrilled to welcome Afshin Mirmotahari and the entire Viki team to BLUE,” says Blue Software chief executive officer Scott Strong. “For more than five years we have worked strategically with Viki Solutions as the industry leader in online proofing and real-time visual collaboration. Since our initial engagement with Viki, our clients have been impressed with how technically advanced their solution is at providing the ability to proof and manage large and complex files.”

BLUE Online Proofing module users currently enjoy a partnership between Viki Solutions and BLUE that provides the powerful tools they need to collaborate in real-time on a wide range of file formats, including document, image, audio, video and 3D—with exceptional content accuracy, markup and approval tools, revision comparison and advanced proofing features.

The acquisition solidifies the technology relationship and will add capabilities in the coming months to BLUE including extensions for BLUE’s automated task routing through integration with third party solutions; a color-matching module that can be added for color-accurate online proofing; responsive design with touch support for tablets, touch displays and hybrid devices.

All current BLUE and Viki Solutions customers and partners can expect no disruptions, only improvements as a result of this acquisition, including faster product development and enhanced capabilities that arise from the combined strengths of both development teams. Customers will continue to receive support from their current contacts. All current customer, partner, and OEM (original equipment manufacturers) agreements are expected to remain unchanged.

Stephen Kaufman, who moves into a new chief product officer role at BLUE Software remarks, “I have been in the workflow business for the past twenty years, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that you can count the true experts in the field of collaboration and print-accurate preview on one hand. Afshin is on that hand and his team embodies his passion for excellence and his deep domain expertise. From the time we first integrated their core product all the way through co-developing advanced API-driven automations, the Viki management, development and support teams have always been highly responsive to our needs. Indeed, we share the same core values and a true passion for graphic arts, software quality, and elegant user experience.”

Continues Kaufman, “Uniquely, Viki delivers a scalable, configurable and performant tool that constitutes the industry’s most accurate previewing tool for the benefit of our brand and pharma customers. We look forward to working together on a number of fronts and to building the highest possible customer value into our solutions.”

Former Viki Solutions chief executive officer Afshin Mirmotahari adds: “We’re excited to bring our entire portfolio of solutions to the market with BLUE.

“We’ve worked closely with BLUE and all of our partners on the design, integration and delivery of our online proofing, collaboration and workflow technologies. With the combined talent and financial backing, we have the opportunity to accelerate the delivery of our plans, products and offerings to our technology partners, our brand partners, and our premedia partners.”

About Viki Solutions:
Viki Solutions specializes in powerful, enterprise-grade collaboration and automation tools that optimize the productivity, quality and efficiency of complex brand, marketing and business workflows. With over 20 years’ experience developing market-leading products for digital, print and packaging value chains, Viki works with leading technology partners and service providers to deliver high-value system integrations, enhanced profitability and exceptional service and support.

About BLUE Software:
BLUE Software develops Brand Lifecycle Management software to help consumer products (FMCG/CPG), life sciences and retail companies achieve global visibility into the business processes that drive the execution and compliance of their brands efficiently across media worldwide. Its robust, enterprise-level software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform BLUE enables more than 81,000 users and 3,100 companies worldwide to work smarter every day with automated workflow, online proofing, digital asset library and additional modules. Company information can be found at www.bluesoftware.com.