ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (23)

The Buyers Guide for Contact Centers Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Keith Dawson on 19 September 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 Contact Centers 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: Customer Experience, Contact Center

Contact Centers Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Keith Dawson on 18 September 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Contact Centers research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. In this modern, digital age of customer experience, the journey of engagement across every channel and device must be orchestrated effectively. Organizations, no matter the industry, have inbound and outbound interactions and rely on contact centers to fulfill... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center

The Buyers Guide for Agent Management Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Keith Dawson on 15 September 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 Agent 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... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, agent management

Agent Management Buyers Guide: Market Observations

Posted by Keith Dawson on 14 September 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Agent Management research enables me to provide observations about how the market has advanced. Agents are the foundation of the contact center processes that impact every customer experience. These processes, and the customer service function, must be able to operate from any location, at any time, and agents must be able to respond to customers via any... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, agent management

The Buyers Guide for Contact Center Suites Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by Keith Dawson on 13 September 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 Contact Center Suites 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: Customer Experience, Contact Center

AI for Working Capital Management

Posted by Robert Kugel on 13 September 2023

In accounting terms, working capital includes current assets (short-term items such as cash, money due from customers and inventory) and current liabilities (typically payments due to suppliers and loan amounts that must be repaid within one year). Working capital management is a prime function of the finance organization, designed to balance often-conflicting objectives related to revenue,... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, CFO, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Accounts Payable, Treasury, Accounts Receivable, Working Capital

Market Observations from the Contact Center Suites Buyers Guide

Posted by Keith Dawson on 12 September 2023

The 2023 Ventana Research Buyers Guide for Contact Center Suites research enables me to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced. In this modern, digital age of customer experience, the journey of engagement across every channel and device must be orchestrated effectively. Organizations, no matter the industry, have inbound and outbound interactions and rely on contact... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Contact Center

Incorta Empowers Data Delivery and Analysis for Business

Posted by Matt Aslett on 07 September 2023

Organizations today have an ever-increasing appetite for platforms that improve the speed and efficiency of data analytics and business intelligence (BI). The ability to quickly process data enables organizations to make well-informed decisions in real time. This agile approach to data processing is crucial for staying ahead in today's competitive landscape. With the rising need for data-driven... Read More

Topics: Data Management, Data, data operations, analytic data platforms

Confluent’s Streaming Analytics Expands Stream Processing Use Cases

Posted by Matt Aslett on 05 September 2023

I recently wrote about the various technologies used by organizations to process and analyze data in real time. I explained that while the terms streaming data and events and streaming analytics are often used interchangeably, they are separate disciplines that make use of common underlying concepts and technologies such as events, event brokers and event-driven architecture. Confluent’s... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Cloud Computing, Data Governance, Data, Digital Technology, Streaming Analytics, Streaming Data Events

Cohesity Provides Digital Security to Ensure Business Continuity

Posted by Jeff Orr on 01 September 2023

Data is one of the most valuable assets an organization owns, and a robust data backup and recovery system is foundational to protecting it. Weak data protection efforts jeopardize resilience and business continuity. With data residing in multiple places – including on-premises servers and public and private cloud environments – it is difficult to ensure that all data is backed up and recoverable... Read More

Topics: Business Continuity, Cloud Computing

Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI Benefits on GRC Practices

Posted by Jeff Orr on 31 August 2023

Governance, risk management and compliance are essential tactics for a successful organization. Effective GRC practices help organizations achieve business objectives, mitigate risks and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. As a chief information officer or IT leader, it is important to evaluate new technologies and determine their impact on the business, including whether they fit within... Read More

Topics: Data Governance, AI and Machine Learning

With Generative AI, Any Dog Can Write a Contract

Posted by Robert Kugel on 29 August 2023

This title plays on the now-ancient meme from the 1990s: “On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog,” which pointed to a challenge of anonymity posed by new technology. In this case, though, I’m using it to highlight an opportunity that generative artificial intelligence presents in streamlining routine business functions that require some level of individual skill and experience to handle.... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Digital Technology, robotic automation, AI and Machine Learning

Combining Scenario Evaluation with BI Delivers Better Decisions

Posted by David Menninger on 29 August 2023

If I had a magic wand, I would want to add scenario evaluation to all business intelligence tools on the market. I have previously written about the need to make intelligent decisions with decision intelligence. The data and analytics markets have evolved so that organizations have far greater capabilities to utilize data in decision-making processes. While there is some convergence around the... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Planning, Digital Technology, Analytics and Data

Pragmatism for HR Leaders: GenAI and HCM Technology

Posted by ISG Research on 24 August 2023

The world of human capital management (HCM) technology, and tech in general, is buzzing with excitement over the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Startups, especially, are releasing software at seemingly breakneck speed, and larger vendors, specifically the platform providers, have been releasing their own net-new or enhanced features and functionality. We’ve all read that... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, AI and Machine Learning

New Frontiers in Digital Security with Observability Data

Posted by Jeff Orr on 23 August 2023

Given the ever-expanding digital footprint of most businesses today, visibility into the performance of distributed systems has become a necessity. There are more data sources and data storage locations than ever before. As organizations continue to expand their data presence and scale their systems and tools, digital security is of greater importance in the architecture and operations.... Read More

Adopt the Virtual Audit to Improve Audit Quality

Posted by Robert Kugel on 22 August 2023

Over the past three years, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (or PCAOB, sometimes pronounced “peekaboo”) has found an increasing prevalence of auditing deficiencies in its inspections of accounting firms. PCAOB was established as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in the wake of several major accounting scandals. The agency acts as the auditor of auditors with the objective of... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, audit, ERP and Continuous Accounting, virtual audit

Re-Humanizing the Candidate Experience

Posted by ISG Research on 22 August 2023

In recent years, the corporate landscape has witnessed a notable shift towards prioritizing employee experience. Organizations have recognized that a content and engaged workforce translates to higher productivity, reduced turnover and improved profitability, as I previously wrote about. Consequently, companies have invested considerable resources in creating a positive work environment and... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Recruiting, Talent Management, employee experience

GoodData’s Embedded Analytics Democratizes Data-Driven Decisions

Posted by David Menninger on 17 August 2023

The current market landscape of data and analytics is undergoing rapid evolution, presenting organizations with a wide array of challenges and opportunities. As data sources and warehouses steadily migrate to the cloud, a significant number of organizations still depend on conventional tools. This reliance on legacy systems hinders the seamless accessibility and adoption of analytics and business... Read More

Topics: embedded analytics, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Streaming Analytics, AI and Machine Learning

Advanced Technology Enables Analytic Autonomy

Posted by Robert Kugel on 17 August 2023

A century ago, the big breakthrough in telephones was the ability to dial your party’s number directly. Dialing became necessary when enough people had telephones to require a shift from people-assisted to fully automated connections. But direct dialing was only a local option – you still needed an operator to make long-distance calls. In the 1920s, commenting on their forecast for the expected... Read More

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

Balancing Agents and Automation Enhances the Customer Experience

Posted by Keith Dawson on 16 August 2023

A lot of conversations around contact centers deal with automation, particularly how to balance the way humans and automated systems work together. Self-service, the front end of the customer interaction, is where practitioners get a first taste of the marvels of increasingly advanced automation. As customer expectations ramped up and labor became more costly during the pandemic, deflecting... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Self-service, automation, Contact Center, Knowledge Management, agent management