ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives (27)

Using Continuous Accounting to Improve Performance

Posted by Robert Kugel on 26 April 2023

In 2015, I began using the term continuous accounting to call attention to technology advances that enable finance and accounting departments to improve performance. These advances have continued, making an even more compelling case for adoption of continuous accounting. In my definition, the approach rests on three pillars: Managing processes end-to-end to reduce workloads, using workflows while... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, ERP and Continuous Accounting

Generative AI Ushers in a New Age of Content and Model Creation

Posted by David Menninger on 25 April 2023

Generative AI is a class of artificial intelligence used to generate new, seemingly real content. Broadly speaking, AI has traditionally been used to identify patterns in data and apply those patterns to categorize and predict behaviors. For instance, it can organize customers into groups (or clusters) with similar characteristics, or predict which customers are most likely to respond to certain... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Digital Technology, AI and Machine Learning

Pay Transparency Mandates Require Preparation for Managing Compensation

Posted by ISG Research on 24 April 2023

The world is witnessing a long overdue and significant shift in the realm of pay equity and transparency. On March 30, the European Parliament passed the Pay Transparency Directive, mandating pay transparency and equity within organizations in an effort to close the gender pay gap and ensure equal pay for equal work. This legislation comes with teeth, providing strict mechanisms for enforcement... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Total Compensation Management, Pay Equity

Conga Propels a Revenue-Focused Revolution

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 24 April 2023

Conga is part of our Office of Revenue market coverage and I recently attended the 2023 Conga Connect conference held in Orlando during April of 2023. The conference was the public reveal of a new Conga, with significant announcements in three main areas. First was the overall positioning within a self-designated category of revenue life cycle management. Secondly was the first public revealing... Read More

Topics: Subscription Management, Office of Revenue

MongoDB’s Atlas Delivers Data-Driven Applications

Posted by Matt Aslett on 19 April 2023

The recent publication of our Value Index research highlights the impact of intelligent applications on the operational data platforms sector. While we continue to believe that, for most use cases, there is a clear, functional requirement for either analytic or operational data platforms, recent growth in the development of intelligent applications infused with the results of analytic processes,... Read More

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

Opportunity Marketplaces Help Address Talent Shortage

Posted by ISG Research on 19 April 2023

In recent years, organizations have struggled to find and retain the right talent to fill critical roles. This can be attributed to a combination of factors, including an aging workforce, a lack of critical skills needed for current and future organizational needs, and increased competition for talent from other organizations seeking similar skills. Our research shows that, within the next five... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Talent Management

Make Better Decisions with Collaborative Analytics

Posted by David Menninger on 19 April 2023

In my perspective on decision intelligence, I lamented the fact that business intelligence technologies have left the rest of the exercise to the reader for too long. Making a decision is a process that involves many steps and many people. Decision-making is so complicated and divorced from day-to-day business processes that organizations have had to create entirely separate teams to focus on the... Read More

Topics: business intelligence, Analytics, Digital Technology, Collaborative & Conversational Computing, Analytics and Data

Tame Telemetry Data with Mezmo Observability Pipeline

Posted by Matt Aslett on 18 April 2023

As engagement with customers, suppliers and partners is increasingly conducted through digital channels, ensuring that infrastructure and applications are performing as expected is not just important but mission critical. My colleague, David Menninger, recently explained the increasing importance of observability to enable organizations to ensure that their systems and applications are operating... Read More

Topics: Data Management, Data, Digital Technology, Analytics and Data

Customer Feedback Management Goes Way Beyond Surveys for the VoC

Posted by Keith Dawson on 13 April 2023

Contact centers have long collected feedback from customers, usually through short surveys. It is very common for an agent or an automated system to ask for an assessment of the interaction that just occurred, hoping to get the customer's candid, instant view of whether they were satisfied. For the most part, what's learned in those short engagements is very narrow. It can be used for a customer... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Voice of the Customer, Contact Center, AI

Sigma Computing Makes Cloud Analytics More Accessible

Posted by David Menninger on 13 April 2023

Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the potential value that can be gained by processing big data. As data sources grow, it becomes important to have tools and methods to effectively process, analyze and visualize this information from disparate systems and warehouses. Our Analytics and Data Benchmark Research shows that the majority of the workforce in an organization is not using... Read More

Topics: business intelligence, embedded analytics, Analytics, Streaming Analytics

Seek Solace for Event-Driven Architectures and Applications

Posted by Matt Aslett on 12 April 2023

I have written recently about the increasing importance of managing data in motion and at rest as the use of streaming data by enterprise organizations becomes more mainstream. While batch-based processing of application data has been a core component of enterprise IT architecture for decades, streaming data and event processing have often been niche disciplines typically reserved for... Read More

Topics: Data, Streaming Data Events

Workday Excels at People Analytics

Posted by ISG Research on 11 April 2023

People analytics is the application of data and statistical methods to better understand and optimize the human capital within an organization. It has become a crucial aspect of business strategy as organizations seek to make data-driven decisions about the workforce. In the past decade, the people analytics market has experienced substantial growth, as businesses look for ways to gain insight... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Analytics, HR Analytics, People Analytics

Reltio Simplifies Connecting Data with Master Data Management

Posted by Matt Aslett on 06 April 2023

To execute more data-driven business strategies, organizations need linked and comprehensive data that is available in real time. By consistently managing data across siloed systems and ensuring that data definitions are agreed and current, organizations can overcome the challenges presented by data being distributed across an increasingly disparate range of applications and data-processing... Read More

Topics: Data Management, Data, data operations

Reasons Your Midsize Organization Needs a Finance Technology Update

Posted by Robert Kugel on 05 April 2023

The chief financial officer of a midsize organization faces a different set of challenges than those in larger or smaller enterprises. These organizations have grown to the point of requiring capabilities similar to larger businesses, but typically lack the staff or financial resources afforded to bigger organizations. The past decade of IT innovation – especially the expansion of cloud computing... Read More

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

DataOps: Understanding the Definition and Differentiation

Posted by Matt Aslett on 04 April 2023

Data Operations (DataOps) has been part of the lexicon of the data market for almost a decade, with the term used to describe products, practices and processes designed to support agile and continuous delivery of data analytics. DataOps takes inspiration from DevOps, which describes a set of tools, practices and philosophy used to support the continuous delivery of software applications in the... Read More

Topics: Data Governance, Data Management, Data, data operations

Total Compensation Management Value Index Classifies and Rates Vendors

Posted by ISG Research on 31 March 2023

We are happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index: Total Compensation Management 2023 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... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Total Compensation Management

Market Observations from the Total Compensation Management Value Index

Posted by ISG Research on 30 March 2023

Having just completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Total Compensation Management, We want to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced since our assessment three years ago. For more than two decades, Ventana Research has conducted market research in a spectrum of related areas including Total Compensation Management (TCM) as well as broader HCM areas ranging... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management, Total Compensation Management

Now with the Miracle Ingredient AI!

Posted by Robert Kugel on 30 March 2023

Early last December, just before ChatGPT became the new, bright, shiny object, The Economist magazine ran a story proclaiming that we had finally arrived at the age of boring artificial intelligence (AI). From my perspective, it’s unfortunate that didn’t last and that AI has been relegated back to the buzzword league. AI will be an increasingly important feature of business software through the... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Intelligence, Business Planning, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, natural language processing, continuous supply chain, AI and Machine Learning

Why Intelligent Self-Service Is the Tip of the Spear for CX

Posted by Keith Dawson on 29 March 2023

Organizations looking to improve the customer experience and contact center operations should closely examine the processes at work in the front-end self-service environment. Technology advancements are converging at this gateway, including artificial intelligence, chatbots and knowledge management. The front end of the customer interaction offers a greater opportunity for customer engagement... Read More

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

Alation’s Data Governance Accelerates Data Intelligence

Posted by Matt Aslett on 29 March 2023

As data continues to grow and evolve, organizations seek better tools and technologies to employ data faster and more efficiently. Finding and managing data remains a perennial challenge for most organizations, and is exacerbated by increasing volumes of data and an expanding array of data formats. At the same time, organizations must comply with a growing list of national and regional rules and... Read More

Topics: Data Governance, Data Management, Data, data operations