ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Keebo Automates Cloud Data Warehouse Optimization

Posted by Matt Aslett on 31 January 2024

In recent years, many enterprises have migrated data platform workloads from on-premises infrastructure to cloud environments, attracted by the promised benefits of greater agility and lower costs. The scale of cloud data platform adoption is illustrated by Ventana Research’s Data Lakes Dynamic Insights research: For two-thirds (66%) of participants, the primary data platform used for analytics... Read More

Topics: business intelligence, Cloud Computing, data operations, robotic automation, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

2024 Market Agenda for Office of Revenue: Bring AI to the Table

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 30 January 2024

Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 research agenda for the Office of Revenue, continuing the guidance we have offered for nearly two decades to help enterprises across industries derive optimal value and improved outcomes from business technology. Chief Sales and Revenue Officers face an imperative to manage their sales and revenue organizations, but they do not always have the guidance... Read More

Topics: Digital Commerce, Subscription Management, partner management, Revenue Performance Management, Office of Revenue

2024 Market Agenda for Operations and Supply Chain: Seize the Opportunity

Posted by Robert Kugel on 29 January 2024

Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 market agenda for Operations and Supply Chain, continuing the guidance we have offered for more than two decades to help enterprises across industries derive optimal value and improved outcomes from business technology. After three years of reacting to disruption, enterprises that have made the right investments and restructured operations are able to... Read More

Topics: Continuous Planning, Product Information Management, Operations & Supply Chain, Property Technology, Supplier Relationship Management, Continuous Supply Chain & ERP

2024 Market Agenda for Analytics and Data: Automating Intelligence

Posted by Matt Aslett on 26 January 2024

Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 Market Agenda for Analytics and Data, continuing the guidance we have offered for two decades to help enterprises derive optimal value and improve business outcomes. Enterprises of all sizes in all industries and geographies strive to improve efficiency, productivity and customer experiences through analytics and data. Doing so relies on the ability to... Read More

Topics: embedded analytics, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Management, natural language processing, data operations, Process Mining, Streaming Analytics, Streaming Data Events, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data

The 2024 Market Agenda for CX: The Steady Rollout of Gen AI

Posted by Keith Dawson on 25 January 2024

Ventana Research recently announced its Market Agenda in the expertise area of Customer Experience. CX has emerged as a way for enterprises to demonstrate value and stand out in the marketplace. The technology underlying modern CX is transitioning from tools that are based on communication to those centered on data analysis and process automation. No technology has had as dramatic impact as... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Voice of the Customer, Self-service, Analytics, Contact Center, agent management

Mining, Intelligence and Monitoring Achieve the Best Process Outcomes

Posted by Robert Kugel on 25 January 2024

Since a majority of today’s workforce wasn’t around in the 1990s, it’s worth noting that “business process reengineering” was all the rage. The purpose was to review, restructure and redesign core business processes to achieve substantial improvements in market and customer responsiveness, productivity, cycle times and quality. One reason for its popularity (beyond being a money spinner for... Read More

Topics: Product Information Management, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Continuous Supply Chain & ERP

AI Hallucinations Are More Than a Headache for Business and IT

Posted by Jeff Orr on 24 January 2024

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence (AI) seamlessly integrates into every facet of your business, only to subtly distort your data and skew your insights. This is the emerging challenge of AI hallucinations, a phenomenon where AI models perceive patterns or objects that do not exist or are beyond human detection. AI hallucinations became popularized in early 2023 with the rollout of... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology, AI and Machine Learning

Office of Finance 2024 Market Agenda: AI Begins Boosting Productivity

Posted by Robert Kugel on 24 January 2024

Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 Market Agenda for the Office of Finance, continuing the guidance we have provided since 2004 on the practical use of technology for the finance and accounting department. Our insights and best practices aim to enable enterprises to operate with agility and resiliency, improving performance and delivering greater value as a strategic partner. We craft... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting

2024 Market Agenda: Innovation in AI and Digital Modernization

Posted by Mark Smith on 23 January 2024

Ventana Research has announced its market agenda for 2024, continuing a 20-year tradition of credibility and trust in our objective efforts to educate and guide the technology industry. Our research and insights are backed by our expertise and independence, and we do not share our Market Agenda or our market research, including analyst and market perspectives, with any external party before it is... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Human Capital Management, Marketing, Office of Finance, Digital Technology, Operations & Supply Chain, AI, Analytics and Data

Align Incentive Compensation and Multi-Channel Sales to Protect Growth

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 23 January 2024

I recently published an Analyst Perspective on how the rise of omnichannel buyer engagement coupled with subscription pricing is increasing the complexity in achieving corporate targets. An example is the software provider who implemented a new self-service capability to speed fulfillment for existing customers by enabling the direct purchase of additional licenses without assistance from the... Read More

Topics: Office of Revenue

Edge and Local Data Processing Growing in Importance

Posted by Matt Aslett on 18 January 2024

Discussion about potential deployment locations for analytics and data workloads is often based on the assumption that, for enterprise workloads, there is a binary choice between on-premises data centers and public cloud. However, the low-latency performance or sovereignty characteristics of a significant and growing proportion of workloads make them better suited to data and analytics processing... Read More

Topics: Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Data, Digital Technology, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

AI Will Increase the Strategic Value of S&OP

Posted by Robert Kugel on 17 January 2024

Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is trending toward becoming more strategic in product-centric companies through the end of the decade. The purpose of S&OP has grown in importance. Since the mid-teens, the trade and economic environment has become less benign and more unpredictable, forcing many enterprises to redesign their supply chains for resiliency while still surmounting the dual... Read More

Topics: Continuous Planning, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, Continuous Supply Chain & ERP

Calabrio Enables Contact Center Agent Productivity

Posted by Keith Dawson on 16 January 2024

Every contact center agent represents an incredible investment in time and money even before that person starts working with customers. The costs associated with the labor force — and the need to continually replace agents who leave — have long forced managers to use technology to optimize performance and processes. Much of the technology that was developed decades ago is still relevant and in... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center, agent management

Actian Accelerates Insight with Unified Cloud Data Platform

Posted by Matt Aslett on 10 January 2024

As articulated in Ventana Research’s Data Platforms Buyer’s Guide and DataOps Buyer’s Guide research, the combination of cloud computing and advanced analytics has lowered the cost of storing and processing large volumes of data, accelerating the emergence of new data platform and data operations products that enable organizations to gain operational efficiency and competitive advantage. The... Read More

Topics: Data Management, Data, Digital Technology, data operations, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data

The Intelligent Automation Journey: From Objectives to Implementation

Posted by Jeff Orr on 09 January 2024

In the evolving landscape of business operations, intelligent automation has emerged as a key driver of productivity, operational efficiency and workforce satisfaction. Each facet of an organization perceives the value of automation through the lens of its unique objectives and goals. In a previous perspective, I shared the reasons why enterprise organizations are leaning towards automating... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology, robotic automation

Risk Management is Essential for AI and Generative Development

Posted by Robert Kugel on 04 January 2024

The recent launch of the AI Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 corporations and research institutions engaged in artificial intelligence (AI) development (including AMD, CERN, Cornell University, Dell Technologies, IBM, Intel, Linux Foundation, Meta, NASA, Oracle, ServiceNow and Sony Group), aims to achieve the following objectives: Provide independent benchmarks and evaluation standards,... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Planning, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Continuous Supply Chain & ERP

Explorium Facilitates the Use of External Data for Analytics and AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 January 2024

The phrase ‘big data’ may have largely gone out of fashion, but the concept of storing and processing all relevant data continues to be important for enterprises seeking to be more data-driven. Doing so requires analytic data platforms capable of storing and processing data in multiple formats and data models. This will be an important focus for the forthcoming Data Platforms Buyer’s Guide 2024.... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Management, Data, Digital Technology, data operations, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

Contact Centers Must Adapt to New Agent Tools and Practices

Posted by Keith Dawson on 02 January 2024

The pandemic laid bare the tenuous relationship between many contact centers and their agents. The abrupt shift to remote work was just one component of the changes still under way. The past four years have also seen enterprises reckoning with questions about how to hire, what to pay their employees, what skills are needed and how an avalanche of new technology will change their operations. ... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center, Knowledge Management, agent management