ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (124)

Kognitio Pablo Brings MDX to Data and Analytics

Posted by ISG Research on 14 February 2011

Kognitio announced the addition of MultiDimensional eXpressions (MDX) capabilities for its WX2 product line. John Thompson, CEO of U.S. operations, and Sean Jackson, VP of marketing, shared some of the details with me recently. I find the marriage of MDX and large-scale data both technically challenging and potentially valuable to the market. Kognitio develops and markets a massively parallel... Read More

Topics: Data Warehousing, MDX, RDBMS, IT Performance, Business Intelligence, Data Management, Information Management, Kognitio, MPP

Jacada Withdraws Analytics While Market Heats Up

Posted by ISG Research on 11 February 2011

My latest research into contact center analytics shows how important it has become for companies to improve the way they monitor and assess the performance of their centers. In fact 41% said they could significantly improve the performance of their centers by using analytics, and 47% think they could improve somewhat. Their main requirements are to have more real-time operational analysis and... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Jacada, Operational Performance, Cloud Computing, Call Center, Contact Center, Contact Center Analytics, CRM

Putting the “A” Back in FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis)

Posted by Robert Kugel on 10 February 2011

People who perform the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) function in the finance organization put together and update the budgets and forecasts. In many companies, the “A” portion of this activity gets short shrift. That’s because the mechanical process of pulling together and collating the data takes up so much time that very little remains for analysis. The result is that planning and... Read More

Topics: FP&A, Finance Analytics, Financial Applications, Business Performance, Financial Performance, CFO, finance, Integrated Business Planning

Genesys Expanding to Agent Performance Management

Posted by ISG Research on 10 February 2011

In the contact center market Genesys is synonymous with computer/telephony integration (CTI) and call routing. It was the first vendor to combine routing of calls to agents and using CTI to pop screens onto the agent’s desktop when the call was put through. Genesys has been adding products to its portfolio and now has expanded into what Ventana Research terms agent performance management (APM)... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Genesys, Operational Performance, Cloud Computing, Call Center, Contact Center, Contact Center Analytics, CRM

Informatica Focuses Integration on Lines of Business

Posted by Mark Smith on 08 February 2011

At this year’s Informatica industry analyst conference (Twitter: #INFAAnalyst) to update the research and industry analyst community on its data integration and information infrastructure products. Looking back on my analysis of the company’s 2010 analyst summit, I see Informatica has made significant progress in gaining adoption of its products and influencing the new business technology... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Customer & Contact Center, Data Integration, Information Management, Workforce Performance

MicroStrategy Combines Actions with Business Intelligence and Mobility

Posted by ISG Research on 07 February 2011

Last week I attended MicroStrategy World 2011 in Las Vegas, the North American version of the business intelligence (BI) vendor’s annual user conference. The event was well attended, and the company claimed attendance was up 40% over last year. The purpose of the post is to recap the announcements made, highlight the areas where MicroStrategy is making investments and comment on the overall... Read More

Topics: Data Warehousing, MicroStrategy, IT Performance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Management, Information Management

Forecast: Sunshine, With Clouds

Posted by ISG Research on 07 February 2011

The sun is shining and the birds are singing here in the Bay Area; in other climes, they aren’t. In recent years, I’m pleased to report, I’ve been spared having to deal with weather challenges in getting to the office. That’s in part because snow, sleet and hail aren’t a normal part of our weather here, but also in part because our physical office is a less important part of our operations than... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Collaboration, Customer & Contact Center, Operational Intelligence, Business

Enterprise Risk Management Addresses the Agency Dilemma

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 January 2011

I have written before about enterprise risk management, which is an essential piece of both performance management and corporate governance. Every aspect of business entails risk. Everyone who makes a business decision is – whether consciously or not – making trade-offs between risk and reward. Assessing risk is tricky in business because it means different things to different people depending on... Read More

Topics: Governance, GRC, Office of Finance, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Financial Performance, CFO, compliance

Jaspersoft Releases Version 4 and Tackles Large-Scale Data

Posted by ISG Research on 28 January 2011

Open source business intelligence (BI) software vendor Jaspersoft recently announced general availability of its flagship product Jaspersoft 4 and earlier this week announced a new reporting project that provides data connectors to a variety of large-scale data sources. Jaspersoft claims millions of downloads of its software and has a staff of 120 employees. The company focuses on the information... Read More

Topics: Data Warehousing, IT Performance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Management, Information Management

Secrets Revealed in Massively Parallel Processing and Database Technology

Posted by ISG Research on 19 January 2011

This is the first in a series of posts on the architectures of analytic databases. This is relational database technology that has been “supercharged” in some way to handle large amounts of data such as typical data warehouse workloads. The series will examine massively parallel processing (MPP), columnar databases, appliances and in-database analytics. Our purpose is to help those evaluating... Read More

Topics: Data Warehousing, RDBMS, IT Performance, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Management, Information Management

Social Media Ignorance in the IT Analyst Industry

Posted by Mark Smith on 17 January 2011

Social media, the newest channel of communication across the Internet, is increasingly being used to influence, but also to deliver advice and research. I wrote about this revolution last year (See: “The Social Media Revolution in Industry Analyst Community”), reporting on the transformation that is underway and the work of our firm along with Altimeter Group and dozens of other active industry... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Market Research, IT Performance, IT Research, Operational Performance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Business Technology, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Information Applications, Information Management, Information Technology, Location Intelligence, Operational Intelligence, Workforce Performance, Industry Analyst

Is the World Ready for One Source of Customer Data?

Posted by ISG Research on 14 January 2011

If you listen to salesforce.com (SFDC) then you’d have to believe the answer is an emphatic “Yes.” Shortly before Christmas, Kevin Akeroyd, the general manager of salesforce.com’s Jigsaw Data Cloud, tried to convince a group of U.K. analysts that now that Jigsaw is part of SFDC, we can all rush out and put our company and customer data in the cloud and share it effectively with everyone else. And... Read More

Topics: Salesforce.com, Customer Experience, Customer Information Management, Operational Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Information Management, Call Center, CRM

Optimizing Tax Risk Exposure

Posted by ISG Research on 10 January 2011

I recently commented on why I believe companies must manage taxes more intelligently. One dimension of this is optimizing tax risk exposure. Most corporate tax codes are notoriously complex and at times ambiguous, leaving room for companies to interpret their application. These interpretations fall on a scale of “conservative” to “aggressive,” in which companies weigh the risk of penalties and... Read More

Topics: Tax, Business Performance, Financial Performance, CFO, Financial Performance Management

SumTotal Provides Clarity in the New Year

Posted by ISG Research on 06 January 2011

The new year started off with a bang in the human capital management software market as SumTotal Systems acquired GeoLearning, a leading learning management system (LMS) software vendor. If you think this is just another acquisition, think again. I see GeoLearning as a strategic acquisition and a clearly offensive move on SumTotal’s part. Strategic, because vendors are looking to consolidate... Read More

Topics: Learning, Performance, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Workforce Performance, Compensation, SumTotal Systems, Talent Management, Workforce Analytics

Clouds are Raining Corporate Data

Posted by ISG Research on 04 January 2011

Cloud computing is having an increasingly large influence over the IT landscape. It’s likely that, whether you realize it or not, corporate data exists has and or is migrating outside the walls of your organization. Recent research by Ventana Research shows that in areas such as customer services, sales, workforce or human capital management, software as a service (SaaS) or cloud-based... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Customer & Contact Center, Data Integration, Information Management, Workforce Performance

Callidus Muscles Up With ForceLogix – But Can It Step Up to the Plate?

Posted by Mark Smith on 31 December 2010

In a very quiet and very subtle move, Callidus Software (NASDAQ: CALD) has offered to purchase the assets of ForceLogix for about $3.75 million. This sales applications software company provides sales coaching software to help sales managers realize the full value of their sales representatives. In 2010, Callidus Software entered into an OEM agreement to embed ForceLogix within a new offering... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Salesforce.com, Sales Coaching, Sales Effectiveness, Sales Operations, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Workforce Performance, Callidus Software, Sales Performance Management

Cisco Finesses Agents with Real Time Support Using Nexidia

Posted by ISG Research on 29 December 2010

Contact centers face a number of challenges beyond simply answering customer calls. Among them are improving customer satisfaction, increasing the number of calls resolved at the first attempt and ensuring agents comply with regulations. But chief among these, my research into contact center analytics shows, is the mandate to reduce the average length of time it takes to complete calls. Doing all... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Nexidia, Operational Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Call Center, Cisco, Contact Center, CRM

The Headquarters Effect and Salesforce.com

Posted by Robert Kugel on 24 December 2010

Wall Street has many leading indicators to work with, some serious – such as housing starts and the purchasing managers’ index – and some done a bit tongue-in-cheek. One of the latter is the Super Bowl Indicator, which says that if a team from the original National Football League wins the game, the market will be up for the year, but if an old American Football League team wins it, the market... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Salesforce.com, IT Performance, Operational Performance, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Customer & Contact Center, Enterprise Software, Financial Performance, Information Management

Can Your Sales Force Trust Salesforce.com?

Posted by Mark Smith on 17 December 2010

At the 2010 Dreamforce conference (Twitter #df10) in San Francisco, about 18,000 people gathered to learn about the latest in salesforce.com’s applications and technology. Attendees from sales organizations might have been looking for some depth on the next generation of applications to support their sales processes or what the vendor will do to help sales managers manage, sales reps sell... Read More

Topics: Sales, Sales Performance, Salesforce.com, Operational Performance, Analytics, Cloud Computing, Customer Service

SAP Plugs a Gap in Financial Filing

Posted by Robert Kugel on 16 December 2010

SAP is in the process of acquiring certain financial disclosure management software assets from cundus, a German provider of BI and performance management software. SAP will be buying cundus’ Financial Statement Factory and informationCollector, which together manage the collaborative creation and editing of financial and management reports using both structured and unstructured information. SAP... Read More

Topics: ERP, Financial Applications, Uncategorized, CFO, finance, Financial Performance Management