ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (127)

Qlik Here for My View of QlikView 10

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

My colleague recently wrote about QlikView, noting its rapid ascent to providing a very robust support of mobile technology platforms among BI vendors and integration with SAP. On the occasion of its release of a major product revision, QlikView 10, I’d like to add my perspective on the company and its most recent release. I first learned of QlikView about five years ago while working on the TM1... Read More

Topics: QlikView, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Information Management, Mobility

iWay Software Connects Salesforce Chatter to the Enterprise

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

It is not easy for businesses to make their operations more efficient, partly because their information systems do not provide notifications of events as they are happening. Most enterprise technology uses batch processing and is designed to move data from one database to another; otherwise it requires people to go and find the data they need. To be more responsive, new technologies capture and... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Salesforce.com, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Information Management

Putting Hadoop To Work

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

If you enjoyed my previous blog, “Hadoop Is the Elephant in the Room,” perhaps you’d be interested in what your organization might do with Hadoop. As I mentioned, the Hadoop World event this week showcased some of the biggest and most mature Hadoop implementations, such as those of eBay, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo. Those of you who need 8,500 processors and 16 petabytes of storage like eBay... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Information Management, Strata+Hadoop

Hadoop Is the Elephant in the Room

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

Earlier this week I attended Hadoop World in New York City. Hosted by Cloudera, the one-day event was by almost all accounts a smashing success. Attendance was approximately double that of last year. There were five tracks filled mostly with user presentations. According to Mike Olson, CEO of Cloudera, the conference’s tweet stream (#hw2010) was one of the top 10 trending topics of that morning.... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Information Management, Strata+Hadoop

HR Technology Conference Brings Insight to Opportunity

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

The annual HR Technology conference in Chicago provided a glimpse into the activities of HR organizations and their technology investments. It was a busy event with large attendance and much movement between sessions and the exhibit floor as attendees sought to learn more about the technology and what it can do for them. As always event organizers presented a large number of awards and... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Business Performance, Workforce Performance, HRMS, Talent Management

Longview FXR Automates Close-to-Report Cycle

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 November 2010

With its FXR offering, Longview Solutions becomes the latest entrant into the market for software that automates the close-to-report cycle. Addressing the steps in the accounting cycle after the books are closed, the product assembles this accounting data, data from other sources (for example, management data such as a business segment breakout of revenues and operating profits or nonaccounting... Read More

Topics: Financial Close, LongView, Business Performance, Financial Performance, Workforce Performance, Financial Performance Management

Oracle Expands Its Playbook at OpenWorld

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

At its annual conference Oracle OpenWorld this year Oracle flexed its muscles as a technology giant. The company has been steadily growing through acquisitions to expand its database, middleware and applications, and the recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems gives it a way to sell hardware for servers and storage. This momentum is enabling Oracle to develop new streams of revenue, which were on... Read More

Topics: IT Performance, Operational Performance, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Enterprise Software, Information Applications, Information Management, Information Technology

Teradata Advances Personalized Marketing Using Analytics

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

Most people would describe Teradata as a data warehouse and analytics vendor as my colleague has reviewed its core technology. In addition to that, through its own development and by partnering, the company has branched out into the applications market. One such application is Teradata Relationship Manager (TRM) main purpose is to personalize customer interactions, regardless of channel or type... Read More

Topics: Marketing, Operational Performance, Analytics, CRM

What Is Wrong with Business Intelligence?

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

I attended the IBM Business Analytics Analyst Summit in Ottawa and while I can’t tell you much about what was discussed there due to confidentiality restrictions that will be released shortly, I can share with you some of my own observations regarding the state of BI, particularly what’s wrong with it. By “wrong,” I mean why aren’t adoption rates higher? Why aren’t users more satisfied? Our... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Information Management

Cicero Has Smart Agent Desktop for Contact Centers

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

My research over seven years persistently shows that the two main business objectives in a contact center are to reduce average call-handling time (AHT) and improve customer satisfaction. It doesn't seem unreasonable to ask why after all this time most companies haven't come up with solutions to these challenges. To find the answer, I think you have to look at the causes. I believe the big two... Read More

Topics: Operational Performance, Analytics, Contact Center

SAS Supports Marketing through Customer Intelligence

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

SAS is a presence in analytics of virtually every kind and my colleague the broader value of SAS earlier this year. Only a couple of months back I wrote briefly about one of its newest offerings, Social Media Analytics. Since then I have had a chance to see this product in action. While the current version isn’t what I would describe as on the leading edge, it provides capabilities companies need... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Customer Intelligence, Operational Performance

IBM Business Analytics Workshop Illuminates Performance Management

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 November 2010

As part of its recent IBM Business Analytics Industry Analyst Summit, I participated in a demonstration of IBM Business Analytics Workshop, a simulation that the company uses to demonstrate the capabilities of its performance management software. Rather than offering a canned demo or a Microsoft PowerPoint deck, the workshop gives a team of individuals from a company a reasonably realistic... Read More

Topics: Performance Management, Sales Performance, Operational Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Financial Performance, Information Management, Workforce Performance

Perillon Takes Sustainability to the Next Level

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 November 2010

Ecology and economy are two words with the same root. Similarly, the focus on sustainability in business has two sorts of "green" impacts: on the environment and (if you do it right) on the bottom line. Perillon has an on-demand and cloud computing-based solution for companies that want to manage their double-green sustainability efforts more effectively. Perillon Workspace Suite offers... Read More

Topics: Supply Chain Performance, Sustainability, Perillon, Business Performance, Financial Performance, Financial Performance Management

It’s Alive!: A Look at Why the Software Ecosystem Matters to You.

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

With the ongoing spate of mergers and acquisitions in the software industry, I’d like to offer some perspective on what these acquisitions mean to software-purchasing organizations. Think of the software industry as a thriving ecosystem, with large software companies at the top of the food chain. Small companies are formed and, if they have an interesting idea and some good marketing, they grow.... Read More

Topics: IT Performance, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Enterprise Software, Information Technology

Joining the Ventana Research Team and Community

Posted by ISG Research on 28 November 2010

Here’s a big shout-out to the Ventana Research community. I’m happy to be here. I think it would be appropriate to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about why I’m here and what I hope to accomplish as a member of the Ventana Research team. For more than 20 years I’ve been analyzing end-user requirements, competitive landscapes and new trends in the IT industry for some of the world’s... Read More

Topics: IT Performance, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Enterprise Software, Information Technology

Sneak Preview and Analysis: Oracle Fusion Applications for Financial Management

Posted by Robert Kugel on 28 November 2010

Oracle unveiled its Fusion Financials applications at its latest OpenWorld confab as part of its broader Fusion Applications announcement. The software will be generally available shortly. Beyond it being the approach to bringing together the disparate ERP/Financial applications the company owns (E-Business Suite/Oracle Applications, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards), Oracle Fusion Financials rethinks... Read More

Topics: Financial Close, Business Performance, Financial Performance, Oracle, Financial Performance Management

Sneak Preview and Analysis: Oracle Fusion Applications for CRM and Sales Organizations

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

At Oracle OpenWorld this week the company announced its next generation of business applications call Oracle Fusion Application , , which Larry Ellison touted in his closing day keynote at last year's conference, as I noted then. I attended the conference partly to learn what Oracle is doing in providing applications for sales organizations. In the late 1990s Siebel Systems introduced customer... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Sales Operations, Operational Performance, CRM, Sales Performance Management

Sneak Preview and Analysis: Oracle Fusion Applications for Human Capital Management

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

At Oracle OpenWorld this week the company announced its next generation of business applications call Oracle Fusion Applications , which Larry Ellison touted in his closing day keynote at last year's conference, as I noted then. Oracle's head of strategy, Gretchen Alarcon, and head of development, Clive Swan, presented the introduction to one of the seven Fusion families, Human Capital... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Business Performance, Financial Performance, Workforce Performance, Talent Management, Workforce Performance Management

IBM Makes Major Buy in Analytics Market with Netezza

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

IBM has announced its intention to acquire Netezza, one of the world’s fastest-growing providers of data appliances, for approximately $1.7 billion. Founded only 10 years ago, Netezza has over 500 employees and 350 clients including brand names Burlington Coat Factory, Con-way Freight, Estee Lauder, Marriott and Nationwide Insurance. IBM has been investing in analytics software for five years and... Read More

Topics: Data Warehousing, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Information Management, Netezza

Talent Management Market Contracts Further as SumTotal Acquires Softscape

Posted by Mark Smith on 28 November 2010

The market for talent management software continues to consolidate as SumTotal will acquire Softscape to bring together a combination of customers, people and products that reaches more than 25 million users and 1,800 customers globally. This purchase follows three other recent ones: ADP acquiring Workscape, Kenexa acquiring salary.com and Taleo acquiring Learn.com. The result is fewer but... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Softscape, Business Performance, Workforce Performance, HRMS, SumTotal Systems, Talent Management