ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (20)

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

Margin Highlights the Need for Sales and Revenue Planning

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 27 December 2023

I have a phrase I like to use when describing the changing nature of sales: Not all revenue and sales dollars look the same. This is in reference to the changing nature of both how in addition to traditional offerings, organizations are now selling subscription and usage-based products and services through multiple channels. These customer-driven shifts in the approach to buying and selling are... Read More

Topics: Revenue Performance Management, Office of Revenue

Intelligent Automation Trends to Improve Business Results in 2024

Posted by Jeff Orr on 26 December 2023

Ensuring digital effectiveness requires insights into how enterprises can provide the best outcomes through people, processes and technologies. Armed with those insights, business and technology investments can effectively innovate and streamline organizational processes. Global enterprises are building new digital platforms to replicate human actions and eliminate routine tasks to achieve... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology, robotic automation, AI and Machine Learning

Billtrust Automates Receivables to Speed the Cash Cycle

Posted by Robert Kugel on 20 December 2023

Billtrust software manages the full accounts receivable (A/R) cycle, from invoicing to payments, to increase the productivity of the A/R staff while providing customers with a better experience and reducing frictions in their order-to-pay motions. The company’s unified A/R software supports credit application automation, invoice delivery, collections, cash application, payment management and a... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Avoiding the Complexity and Cost of the Modern Data Stack

Posted by Matt Aslett on 19 December 2023

I recently discussed how fashion has a surprisingly significant role to play in the data market as various architectural approaches to data storage and processing take turns enjoying a phase in the limelight. Pendulum swing is a theory of fashion that describes the periodic movement of trends between two extremes, such as short and long hemlines or skinny and baggy/flared trousers. Pendulum swing... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Cloud Computing, Data Management, Data, Digital Technology, data operations, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

ServiceNow’s Vancouver Is a Roadmap to the Future of Service Ops

Posted by Keith Dawson on 19 December 2023

It often takes longer to adopt new technology in the customer service delivery environment than in other business areas. In fact, service operations are among the most efficient and well-organized processes (despite what consumers might think). Because both the processes and the technology that drive them are deeply engrained in many companies, many people resist large-scale transformation... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center, agent management

Tap Into AI To Do More by Doing Less

Posted by Robert Kugel on 14 December 2023

Doing more by doing less means using artificial intelligence and related technologies to make financial planning and analysis organizations more productive. By eliminating low-value and unproductive work, AI enables FP&A teams to free up considerable time for more useful and consequential forecasting, planning, budgeting, analysis and reporting. AI isn’t some far-off capability. It’s already... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Continuous Planning, Business Planning

Oracle Evolves Database Services for Generative AI and Multi-Cloud

Posted by Matt Aslett on 13 December 2023

I previously described how Oracle had positioned its database portfolio to address any and all data platform requirements. The caveat to that statement at the time was that any organization wanting to take advantage of the company’s flagship Oracle Autonomous Database could only do so using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) cloud computing service, their own datacenter or a hybrid cloud... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Management, Data, Digital Technology, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data

Research Reveals the Importance of Technology in Shortening the Close

Posted by Robert Kugel on 12 December 2023

We conducted our recent Smart Financial Close Dynamic Insights Research in part to assess to what extent the substantial disruptions of the pandemic have impacted the accounting close. When office lockdowns began in the first quarter of 2020, many finance departments were challenged to conduct the quarterly close remotely without face-to-face interactions. In the United States, the Securities and... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Financial Performance Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Smart Financial Close

insightsoftware’s Portfolio Boosts Office of Finance Productivity

Posted by Robert Kugel on 08 December 2023

insightsoftware offers a portfolio of software designed mainly for the office of finance to handle reporting, budgeting and planning, consolidation and close management, business intelligence (BI) and analytics, as well as compliance. The company’s applications directly address a core issue confronting many finance department executives today: Productivity. The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics... Read More

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

Verint’s AI Strategy Takes Shape

Posted by Keith Dawson on 08 December 2023

Verint’s November analyst conference was an opportunity to flesh out the strategies unveiled earlier in the year on AI deployment and on “Open CCaaS,” a moniker describing how contact centers are provisioned going forward. The company displayed notable progress, particularly in rolling out AI bots for numerous real-world applications. Open CCaaS is Verint’s way of stating to the industry that a... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Voice of the Customer, Contact Center, bots, agent management