ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (21)

Domestic Payroll Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Mark Smith on 27 November 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Domestic Payroll research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. The payroll preparation process has long been an inefficient, labor-intensive set of administrative tasks designed to ensure that everyone is paid correctly and on time. Historically, it has been a transactional- and compliance-centered function involving... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Payroll Management

A Practical Approach to Managing ESG

Posted by Robert Kugel on 22 November 2023

The emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues has been growing for some time. I participated in the development of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as a software industry expert more than a decade ago. The rise of ESG’s profile in corporate reporting is the latest evolution of “responsible investing,” a topic that goes back centuries in the west. The modern... Read More

Topics: Governance, Office of Finance, Business Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, ESG, Environmental, Inclusion

The Buyers Guide for Payroll Management Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Mark Smith on 22 November 2023

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The 2023 Payroll Management Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the real-world criteria... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Payroll Management

Decoupling Interaction Routing with BYOT in Contact Center Software

Posted by Keith Dawson on 21 November 2023

For at least five years, it has been clear that innovation in technology for communication and business processes is accelerating. This year, that trend has been especially notable with the explosive emergence of artificial intelligence in the contact center software market. But what tends to get lost in the excitement around innovation is what sits downstream of the development process: the... Read More

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

Payroll Management Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Mark Smith on 21 November 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Payroll Management research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. The payroll preparation process has long been an inefficient, labor-intensive set of administrative tasks designed to ensure that everyone is paid correctly and on time. Historically, this has been a transactional- and compliance-centered function that... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Payroll Management

MongoDB Targets Relational and Generative AI Workloads

Posted by Matt Aslett on 21 November 2023

I previously wrote about how document-database providers have added support for ACID transactions and the SQL query language, making their products increasingly suitable for use as replacements for applications that previously depended on relational databases. Adoption of non-relational NoSQL databases is by no means reliant on displacing incumbent relational databases, and initial adoption is... Read More

Topics: Data

NetSuite Emphasizes AI and Expanded Capabilities at SuiteWorld

Posted by Robert Kugel on 16 November 2023

SuiteWorld, the annual user conference from Oracle NetSuite, focused on three topics: artificial intelligence, a reimagination of the role NetSuite can play in managing an organization and emphasizing the value to existing customers of using more of what NetSuite has to offer. AI has been a major theme in this year’s business software user group meetings, spurred by ChatGPT’s brilliant... Read More

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

The Key Value of Database Simplicity

Posted by Matt Aslett on 15 November 2023

I have previously written about the functional evolution and emerging use cases for NoSQL databases, a category of non-relational databases that first emerged 15 or so years ago and are now well established as potential alternatives to relational databases. NoSQL is a term used to describe a variety of databases that fall into four primary functional categories: key-value stores, wide-column... Read More

Topics: Cloud Computing, Data, Digital Technology, data operations, Analytics and Data

Snowflake Expands Data Platform with Container Services

Posted by Matt Aslett on 07 November 2023

I previously wrote about the challenge facing distributed SQL database providers to avoid becoming pigeonholed as only being suitable for a niche set of requirements. Factors including performance, reliability, security and scalability provide a focal point for new vendors to differentiate from established providers and get a foot in the door with customer accounts. Expanding and retaining those... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Cloud Computing, Data, Digital Technology, Streaming Data Events, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

Workday Rising Highlights Responsible AI

Posted by Robert Kugel on 02 November 2023

Because artificial intelligence is top-of-mind, Workday spent a great deal of time on the topic at its recent Workday Rising annual user group meeting in San Francisco. It was front and center in the general sessions, in the announcements made at the event and in the product roadmaps. The sudden attention paid to AI and generative AI in the media has provoked alarmists to warn of potential... Read More

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

Alteryx Uses Generative AI to Enhance Analytic Operations

Posted by David Menninger on 01 November 2023

Alteryx was founded in 1997 and initially focused on analyzing demographic and geographically organized data. In 2006, the company released its eponymous product that established its direction for what the product is today. In 2017, it went public in an IPO on the NYSE. At the time of the IPO, Alteryx was focusing much of its marketing efforts on the data preparation market, particularly to... Read More

Topics: business intelligence, Analytics, data operations, Analytic Operations, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

Vector Search and RAG Improve Trust in Generative AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 31 October 2023

I previously discussed the trust and accuracy limitations of large language models, suggesting that data and analytics vendors provide guidance about potentially inaccurate results and the risks of creating a misplaced level of trust. In the months that have followed, we are seeing some clarity from these vendors about the approaches organizations can take to increase trust and accuracy when... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data, Digital Technology, natural language processing, data operations, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data

The Buyers Guide for Data Observability Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Matt Aslett on 26 October 2023

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research 2023 Data Observability Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the... Read More

Topics: Data, data operations

Data Observability Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Matt Aslett on 25 October 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Data Observability research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. The need to monitor the pipelines and processes in data-processing and analytics environments has driven the emergence of a new category of software: data observability. Inspired by the observability platforms that provide an environment for monitoring... Read More

Topics: Data, data operations

NICE Puts Knowledge at the Heart of Its AI Strategy

Posted by Keith Dawson on 25 October 2023

NICE held its annual Analyst Summit this month in the magnificent high-altitude mountains of Peru, a fantastic environment in which to hear top executives share insights into the changing company and industry. NICE has been very successful in navigating the industry transition from voice-centric interactions to a digital-first posture. Consumer behavior is one of the underlying causes of this... Read More

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

Stream and Event Processing Require Real-Time Analytics

Posted by David Menninger on 25 October 2023

In my past perspectives, I’ve written about the evolution from data at rest to data in motion and the fact that you can’t rely on dashboards for real-time analytics. Organizations are becoming more and more event-driven and operating based on streaming data. As well, analytics are becoming more and more intertwined with operations. More than one-fifth of organizations (22%) describe their... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data, Digital Technology, Streaming Analytics, Streaming Data Events, Analytics and Data

The Buyers Guide for Data Orchestration Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Matt Aslett on 24 October 2023

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research 2023 Data Orchestration Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the... Read More

Topics: Data, data operations

Data Orchestration Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Matt Aslett on 23 October 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Data Orchestration research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. Data orchestration is a concept that has been growing in popularity in the past five years amid the rise of DataOps, which describes more agile approaches to data integration and data management. Data orchestration provides the capabilities to automate and... Read More

Topics: Data, data operations

The Buyers Guide for Data Pipelines Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Matt Aslett on 20 October 2023

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research 2023 Data Pipelines Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the... Read More

Topics: Data, data operations

The Buyers Guide for Business Planning Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Robert Kugel on 19 October 2023

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research 2023 Business Planning Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Planning