Product configuration company Calico Technology Inc has bought Mountain View, California-based FirstFloor Software Inc which sells an interactive marketing encyclopedia to Calico and others. The encyclopedia can be used to answer questions, provide demonstrations and generally enhance any online sales tool. Calico says it’ll be up to 140 staff with the addition of 30 FirstFloor employees, though CEO Judy Hamilton isn’t making the transition. No financial details of the acquisition, paid for entirely in Calico shares, were revealed. Calico, which competes with the likes of Trilogy and Selectica in the product configuration space, says it’s now attacking the broader sales force automation market. The Java Fund-backed company is nudging towards an IPO but says its model and route to market is conservative compared to many of its industry peers. The majority of its sales are on Windows NT.
