EasyAsk to Set New Direction as Private Company

BURLINGTON, Mass., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- EasyAsk, an industry-leading provider of natural language search and analysis software for e-commerce Websites and corporate applications, announced the company has separated from Progress Software and will continue doing business as an independent, private company.  

In May 2009, serial entrepreneur Craig Bassin, formerly of B2Systems and Geneva Group, acquired EasyAsk from Progress Software. Dr. Larry Harris, an internationally recognized expert on database systems and computerized natural language, who is the technical visionary for the company, founded EasyAsk in 1994 and sold it to Progress Software in 2005.

"EasyAsk has ground-breaking technology that is unrivalled, and continues to power industry-leading products," said Bassin. "We'll continue to innovate and provide world-class software, with a renewed entrepreneurial spirit. We recognize there are models other than enterprise, perpetual and annual licensing for software. EasyAsk will very aggressively pursue the software-as-a-service model and intends on partnering with the leading SaaS providers."

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition website search, navigation, and merchandising software uses innovative natural language data search technology to help companies boost online commerce revenue and strengthen relationships with customers. According to Nielsen NetRatings, sites that use EasyAsk have the highest conversion rates in the industry, resulting in an increase in sales and higher revenue per customer. With EasyAsk, online customers can find what they are looking for up to 10 times faster.  Marketers using EasyAsk eCommerce Edition have direct control to merchandise their products, and turn browsers into buyers. EasyAsk eCommerce Edition customers include The Gap, Coldwater Creek, Lands End, Rockler, Lillian Vernon, JJill, Smart Bargains and Travers Tool Co.

EasyAsk Business Edition's intuitive natural language search interface enables everyday business users to search and find information from ERP, CRM, BI and other operational systems by asking questions in plain English, and providing fast, accurate results so they can perform their jobs faster and more efficiently. EasyAsk Business Edition provides immediate impact and rapid return on investment by seamlessly connecting with enterprise data sources, business applications, and existing reports.  EasyAsk requires no training and little on going IT support. EasyAsk Business Edition customers include BASF and Cardif, and leading ISVs such as Ceridian, Gensource, Siemens Medical Solutions and VCG make EasyAsk Query a core component of their business solutions.

EasyAsk will continue to enhance its technology platform and develop new product offerings to meet market trends, such as the increased use of Software-as-a-Service products and cloud computing. Through strategic partnerships with leading eCommerce ERP, CRM, BI and software application providers, EasyAsk will also reach new markets. EasyAsk recently announced a strategic partnership with NetSuite, to enable EasyAsk eCommerce Edition for NetSuite. (See related press release.)

About EasyAsk

EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company's ground-breaking natural language search and query software.  EasyAsk software products go far beyond traditional search, allowing users to simply ask questions in normal everyday language and receive highly tuned results on demand.  The EasyAsk eCommerce Edition uses this unique technology to deliver an industry leading website search, navigation and merchandising solution that boosts online revenue through increased conversion rates, better customer experience and agile merchandising. EasyAsk Business Edition revolutionizes enterprise decision-making, moving beyond traditional business intelligence solutions with easy, low-cost deployment and a unique natural language search interface that extends access to information anywhere in the organization.

Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, EasyAsk has long been a leader in natural language information analysis and delivery software.  Customers such as Gap, Coldwater Creek, Hewlett Packard, Lands End, Lillian Vernon, Aramark, BASF, Talbots, Nedbank, BNP Paribas, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools rely on the EasyAsk software products to run their business and e-commerce operations daily.  For more information, please visit us online at: http://www.easyask.com.

SOURCE EasyAsk