RightNow Technologies
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Customer relationship management software |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | Greg Gianforte |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Fate | Acquired by Oracle Corporation |
| Successor | Oracle Service Cloud |
| Headquarters | Bozeman , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Greg Gianforte (founder) |
| Products | RightNow CX, RightNow Web Experience, Social Experience, Contact Center Experience, Engage |
Number of employees | 1000+ (2011) |
| Parent | Oracle Corporation |
Oracle RightNow represents a customer relationship management (CRM) software solution tailored for large enterprises within the Oracle Service portfolio. Initially created by RightNow Technologies, Inc., the company was purchased by Oracle Corporation in 2011 for $1.8 billion.
The flagship offering from RightNow Technologies was RightNow CX, a comprehensive customer experience platform that included components such as RightNow Web Experience, Social Experience, Contact Center Experience, and Engage. Now operating under Oracle Service, the platform delivers predictive analytics and supports diverse communication channels including websites, mobile applications, chatbots, live and video chat, co-browsing, social messaging, SMS, customer portals, IVR systems, knowledge bases, and in-store personnel. It is incorporated into the broader Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience (CX) suite alongside Oracle’s Advertising, Marketing, and Sales cloud solutions. Oracle Service Cloud has also achieved FedRAMP authorization, allowing federal agencies to utilize its services.
History
Established in 1997 by Greg Gianforte in Bozeman, Montana, RightNow Technologies grew to operate offices throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. By 2011, the workforce had surpassed 1,000 employees. The company’s business strategy focused on delivering software as a service (SaaS) through cloud computing.
Gianforte founded the firm without external capital, initially concentrating on customer service software integrated with a knowledge base. Over time, this evolved into a full-fledged customer experience suite incorporating marketing and sales functionalities, voice automation tools, feedback management systems, analytics capabilities, and social media integrations.
Significant acquisitions included Salesnet in 2006 to bolster sales force automation features; HiveLive in 2009 to add social networking components; and Q-go in 2011 for $34 million. Q-go specialized in semantic search technology utilizing natural language processing to provide precise responses on corporate websites and intranets. Its analytic tools aided organizations in optimizing content and diminishing customer support demands across sectors such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, logistics, and government.
Oracle acquisition
In October 2011, Oracle Corporation declared its intention to acquire RightNow for $1.5 billion, completing the transaction by January 2012. After the acquisition, the product was rebranded as Oracle Service.
Oracle broadened its customer service offerings in 2014 by purchasing LiveLOOK—a tool for real-time visual collaboration enabling cobrowsing and screen sharing—and TOA Technologies, a cloud-based field service application later renamed Oracle Field Service. These solutions were incorporated into Oracle Service software in 2015 to enhance functionalities including skills-based routing.
By May 2022, Oracle augmented its customer service capabilities by merging its Unity Customer Data Platform (CDP) with Oracle Service. This integration provided service agents with a consolidated view of customer information to elevate service quality and operational productivity.