ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (12)

SugarCRM as a Revenue Platform with AI for Sellers

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 19 February 2025

I was recently a guest of SugarCRM at their 2025 Analyst summit with an opportunity to meet with the executive team and new CEO, David Roberts. SugarCRM is a venerable CRM offering that started as an open-source project and over the years has matured into a very flexible CRM system with offerings for sales, marketing and service. The new CEO, David Roberts joined the company toward the end of... Read More

Topics: Revenue Performance Management, Office of Revenue

How Software Can Help Usage Pricing Adoption

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 13 February 2025

Based on the number of invitations I have received to speak on the topic, usage pricing (also referred to as consumption pricing) is hot. But as I have remarked elsewhere, it is not new. I recall a conversation with a customer over 30 years ago when I was involved with analytic software who asked, “Why can’t we just pay for the software we use?” And this of course makes sense: only pay for what... Read More

Topics: Subscription Management, Office of Revenue

Adapting to Higher Inflation Longer with Profitability Management

Posted by Robert Kugel on 05 February 2025

In anticipation of conditions that suggested accelerating price increases, I wrote in 2021 about how technology could be useful in an inflationary period, anticipating the world we live in now. Responding effectively to changes in costs is always challenging, but even more so because of the choppy and chaotic nature of the current environment. Inflation may have abated from its highs throughout... Read More

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

Redpanda Lowers the Complexity and Cost of Streaming and Event Data

Posted by Matt Aslett on 04 February 2025

I recently wrote about the need for enterprises to harness events to process and act upon data at the speed of business. The core technologies that enable enterprises to process and analyze data in real time have been in existence for many years and are widely adopted. However, streaming and events technologies are also commonly seen as a niche requirement, separate from an enterprise’s primary... Read More

Topics: Streaming Data Events, Analytics and Data

Databricks Scores Massive Funding Round, Continues to Expand Its Offerings

Posted by David Menninger on 29 January 2025

Databricks recently announced its Series J funding round, successfully raising $10 billion at a valuation of $62 billion. Led by Thrive Capital alongside high-profile investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Insight Partners, the company intends to invest this capital towards new artificial intelligence (AI) products, acquisitions and significant expansion of its international operations. In the... Read More

Topics: Analytics, AI, Analytics and Data

Data Catalogs Serve Multiple Roles and Use Cases

Posted by Matt Aslett on 29 January 2025

Metadata management has played a role in data governance and analytics for many years. It wasn’t until the emergence of the data catalog as a product category just over a decade ago that enterprises had a platform for metadata-driven data management that could span multiple departments and use cases across an entire enterprise. ISG defines a data catalog as an inventory of data assets that... Read More

Topics: Analytics and Data

ESG Management Software is Essential for Efficient Compliance

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 January 2025

Enterprises have been investing in software to manage their environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives and compliance requirements. The need to account for these considerations in parallel with financial accounting began growing early in the century and accelerated as governments and regulatory authorities began to require companies to measure and document activities and outcomes.... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, ERP and Continuous Accounting

The Impact of the Cloud and AI on Evolving Data Platform Requirements

Posted by ISG Research on 23 January 2025

The degree to which data platforms are critical to efficient business operations cannot be overstated. Without data platforms, enterprises would be reliant on a combination of paper records, time-consuming manual processes and huge libraries of physical files to record, process and store business information. The extent to which that is unthinkable highlights the level at which today’s... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Analytics and Data

Intercompany Financial Management is Essential for Multinationals

Posted by Robert Kugel on 22 January 2025

ISG Software Research coined the term intercompany financial management to define a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within an enterprise and between its legal entities. IFM is designed to maximize staff efficiency and accounting accuracy while optimizing tax exposure, minimizing tax leakage and ensuring consistent tax and regulatory compliance. Technology has advanced to a... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Intercompany Financial Management

MongoDB Enhances Developer Data Platform

Posted by Matt Aslett on 21 January 2025

Despite all the interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI), ISG’s Buyers Guide for Data Platforms serves as a reminder of the ongoing importance of product experience functionality to address adaptability, manageability, reliability and usability. While new and emerging capabilities might catch the eye, features that address data platform security, performance and... Read More

Topics: AI, Analytics and Data

External Data Supports More Accurate Planning

Posted by ISG Research on 15 January 2025

I recently completed the latest edition of our Business Planning Buyers Guide, which reviews and assesses the offerings of 14 providers of this software. One of the points that I look at is whether and to what extent the software provider offers out-of-the-box external data useful for forecasting, planning, analysis and evaluation. What I discovered is that the availability of this type of vital... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Analytics, Business Planning, AI and Machine Learning

Cloudera Enables Hybrid Cloud Data and AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 15 January 2025

Too often, enterprises find that data is distributed across multiple silos on-premises and in the cloud. More than two-thirds of participants in ISG’s Market Lens Cloud Study are using a hybrid architecture involving both on-premises and cloud infrastructure for analytics and artificial intelligence deployments. Unifying data to achieve operational and analytic objectives requires complex data... Read More

Topics: AI, Analytics and Data

Building Inclusive Workplaces: HR Tech's Role in DEIB Transformation

Posted by Matthew Brown on 14 January 2025

Technology should be viewed as an enabler of program success for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, providing extended support that enables teams to expand their reach and ability to execute more complex business processes. AI-powered recruiting platforms, for example, help remove bias from the hiring process by analyzing job descriptions and identifying language that may unintentionally... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Learning Management, Talent Management, Workforce Management, Payroll Management, Total Compensation Management, employee experience

There Are Gaps in the CX Toolkit Waiting to Be Filled

Posted by Keith Dawson on 14 January 2025

The breadth of customer experience (CX) solutions created by software providers in recent years has expanded into new areas, usually related or adjacent to existing, more traditional toolkits. Most providers in the space began as more-or-less pure play contact center software providers, so the CX toolset starts with that set of technologies. Products are grounded in core functions for service... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center

Let’s Put the “A” Back in FP&A

Posted by Robert Kugel on 09 January 2025

When considered at all, unintended consequences are expected to be negative. As enterprises and institutions rush to adopt artificial intelligence and generative AI, the focus is on the potentially unforeseen—and unforecastable—unfavorable outcomes. However, one very likely positive impact of AI investments in business computing is the near-effortless availability of consistently reliable data... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Analytics, Business Planning

Streamline Subscription Accounting to Increase Productivity

Posted by Robert Kugel on 08 January 2025

The subscription and recurring revenue business models became a significant part of the economy this century with the advent of streaming services for entertainment and software as a service. They have grown in popularity because they enhance customer lifetime value by evolving what had previously been a one-time-sale relationship into a delivery of ongoing services, which can create a more loyal... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, ERP and Continuous Accounting

AI Use Cases for Field Service

Posted by Keith Dawson on 08 January 2025

Field service is an often-overlooked area of the service equation, in part because managing its operations involves tools and activities outside of normal contact center models. Field service has a communications component, which is partly handled by contact centers. However, the bulk of field service management activity has to do with organizing the work of technicians and dispatchers. It also... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center, Augmented Reality

Transforming Task Automation: The Future of Intelligent Orchestration

Posted by Jeff Orr on 31 December 2024

The evolution from basic task automation platforms to advanced task orchestration and management marks a milestone in the journey toward Intelligent Automation. Task automation platforms initially enabled enterprises to automate repetitive tasks, freeing valuable human resources for more strategic activities. However, as the need for seamless coordination of multiple automated tasks becomes... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology, RPA

Bigeye Enable Monitoring, Quality and Lineage of Data

Posted by Matt Aslett on 20 November 2024

I previously explained that data observability software has become a critical component of data-driven decision-making. Data observability addresses one of the most significant impediments to generating value from data by providing an environment for monitoring the quality and reliability of data on a continual basis. Maintaining quality and trust is a perennial data management challenge, the... Read More

Topics: AI, data operations, Analytics and Data

Infor’s Velocity Summit Highlights Multiple Advances and Enhancements

Posted by Robert Kugel on 12 November 2024

I recently attended Infor’s Velocity Summit, designed to showcase the latest versions of its CloudSuite ERP software. Also center stage were Infor’s advances in artificial intelligence and process mining as well as its environmental, social and governance application and supply chain optimization enhancements. The company provides industry-specific enterprise software that enhances business... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, ERP and Continuous Accounting, natural language processing, AI and Machine Learning, Continuous Supply Chain & ERP