ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Recurring Revenue Billing: Where Back Office Meets Front Office

Posted by ISG Research on 18 August 2016

Invoicing and billing are mundane business activities that hardly anyone outside of the accounting department cares about, but they are where the back office meets the front office. How well a company handles the process of getting paid by its customers can have an impact on its relationships with them. Like most of the details of business process execution, the impact of substandard invoicing... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Office of Finance, Customer Performance, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance

Salesforce Assimilates Demandware, But Will it Help Them?

Posted by ISG Research on 09 August 2016

In July Salesforce officially closed on its purchase of digital commerce platform provider Demandware for US$2.8 billion. Salesforce’s executives were interested in acquiring a digital commerce platform, and they claim that Demandware was routinely mentioned in their due diligence of the market. So out came Marc Benioff’s and Salesforce checkbook, and they paid. Handsomely. For that sizeable... Read More

Topics: Social Media, Mobile Technology, Office of Finance, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized, Omnichannel, Commerce, Digital kDigital

IBM Watson and Cognitive Computing to Streamline Compliance

Posted by ISG Research on 05 August 2016

Today’s proponents of artificial intelligence (AI) tend to focus on its spectacular uses such as self-driving cars and uplifting ones such as medical treatment. AI also has the potential to aid humanity in more modest ways such as eliminating the need for individuals to do tedious repetitive work in white-collar areas. Along these lines, at its recent Vision users conference, IBM displayed an... Read More

Topics: Governance, Office of Finance, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Uncategorized, Risk & Compliance (GRC), GRC, governance, risk, compliance, risk management

Cloud-Based Contact Center Systems Embrace Analytics and Communications

Posted by ISG Research on 04 August 2016

I recently wrote that companies are struggling to provide omnichannel customer experiences and digital customer service is now seen as a business differentiator. To address these issues, organizations need to change how they use people and processes, and deploy innovative technologies that can support new initiatives. To provide an enterprise-wide solution, contact center systems fall into four... Read More

Topics: Social Media, Mobile Technology, Customer Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

Workforce Optimization Undergoes Radical Change – Ready?

Posted by ISG Research on 28 July 2016

In today’s intensely competitive markets, companies must strive to meet customer expectations during every interaction, and interactions occur through many channels. Our benchmark research into next-generation customer engagement finds that customers use up to 17 channels of engagement. Some channels involve assisted service from employees of the company, and some use self-service technologies... Read More

Topics: Mobile Technology, Customer Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

RapidMiner Brings Self-Service to Predictive Analytics

Posted by ISG Research on 28 July 2016

Predictive analytics is a rewarding yet challenging subject. In our benchmark research on next-generation predictive analytics at least half the participants reported that predictive analytics allows them to achieve competitive advantage (57%) and create new revenue opportunities (50%). Yet even more participants said that users of predictive analytics don’t have enough skills training to produce... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Predictive Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing

Evolution of Digital Commerce Challenged by Technology Barriers

Posted by ISG Research on 28 July 2016

Businesses and customers are ready for a new generation of digital commerce technology, but implementing it is challenged by significant barriers in two basic categories: technology commoditization and the lack of an IT and business framework for delivering great customer experiences. Regarding the first, for some companies making large IT purchases, the way an enterprise employs CAPEX and OPEX... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Social Media, Mobile Technology, Wearable Computing, Customer Performance, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized, Mobile Marketing Digital Commerce

Rescuing Retail’s Mobile Customer Experience Requires New Technology

Posted by ISG Research on 13 July 2016

One aspect of living in downtown Chicago is that there’s always something going on. But as distasteful as the subject matter of certain local events can be, some proceedings can inspire perspectives on a number of topics. One that occurs to me is how the retail industry can apply the new generation of mobile and location-based technologies not only to shape the customer experience but even rescue... Read More

Topics: Social Media, Mobile Technology, Wearable Computing, Customer Performance, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized, Mobile, Marketing Location Communication

Market Research Finds Omnichannel Issues in Customer Service

Posted by ISG Research on 13 July 2016

In our benchmark research into the next-generation contact center in the cloud more than two-thirds (69%) of organizations said they need to improve customer service, and market dynamics require them to do this is in new ways. Whereas today most (83%) compete on the services they offer, over the next two years 70 percent said they expect customer experience to be the top way they will compete,... Read More

Topics: Customer Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

Qlik Makes a Qonnection with Qlik Sense 3.0

Posted by ISG Research on 02 July 2016

Qlik helped pioneer the visual discovery market with its QlikView product. In some respects, Qlik and its competitors also spawned the self-service trend rippling through the analytics market today. Their aim was to enable business users to perform analytics for themselves rather than building a product with the perfect set of features for IT. After establishing success with end users the company... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Mobile Technology, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Information Management, Uncategorized, Qlik, Analytics, Qlik Sense, Qlik, Business intell

NICE Systems Doubles Down on Customer Experience

Posted by ISG Research on 01 July 2016

NICE Systems was one of the first vendors I started to cover when I joined Ventana Research more than 11 years ago. Back then it was a pure-play vendor of workforce optimization (WFO) systems and was creating a portfolio of products by developing its own systems and acquiring niche vendors of call recording, quality management, workforce management, performance management and analytics. Over the... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Customer Performance, Business Analytics, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

Workiva Automates Composite Documents with Wdesk

Posted by ISG Research on 01 July 2016

Workiva offers Wdesk, a cloud-based productivity application for handling composite documents. I use the term “composite document” to refer to those in which text is created and edited collaboratively by multiple contributors and which incorporates tabular and numerical data from multiple sources in a controlled process. Composite documents often have formats defined by law, regulation or... Read More

Topics: Mobile Technology, Business Collaboration, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Uncategorized, Composite Software

Cloud-Based Analytics Still Don’t Deliver Self-Sufficiency

Posted by ISG Research on 27 June 2016

Cloud-based computing has become widespread, particularly in line-of-business applications from vendors such as Salesforce and SuccessFactors. Our benchmark research also suggests a rise in the acceptance of cloud-based analytics. We’ve seen the emergence and growth of cloud-only analytics vendors such as Domo and GoodData as well as cloud-based delivery by nearly all the on-premises analytics... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Supply Chain Performance, Human Capital, Business Intelligence, Business Analytics, Cloud,, Customer Performance, Operational Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Information Management, Uncategorized

Contact Centers Need Radical Change to Meet Consumers’ Expectations

Posted by ISG Research on 25 June 2016

I have been involved in the contact center industry for more than 25 years and often see organizations that are slow in keeping up with consumers’ expectations; many of them seem reluctant to change, regardless of the need to do so. For example, agents of my cell phone operator ask the same four questions at the start of a call as they did 30 years ago; my bank supports several channels of... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Social Media, Customer Performance, Business Analytics, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

Microsoft Accepts LinkedIn Connection: Will it Matter?

Posted by ISG Research on 18 June 2016

For some people in sales and marketing who struggle to meet their quarterly targets, the blockbuster announcement that Microsoft will buy LinkedIn for US$26.2 billion may seem like a midyear holiday present: a digital business Rolodex filled with new global connections that can make the task of generating revenue dramatically easier. Problem is, sales leaders and revenue-focused marketers worth... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Social Media, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized

Interactive Intelligence Enables Contact Center in the Cloud

Posted by ISG Research on 18 June 2016

I recently attended the Interactive Intelligence Interactions 2016 conference and came away with four key insights regarding the company’s plans and progress in providing contact centers in the cloud. These include the short-term success of PureCloud, the company’s financial performance, the importance of customer support and dealing with change. PureCloud has surpassed the company’s... Read More

Topics: Customer Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Call Center

Industry Veteran Brings Leadership on Sales and Marketing

Posted by ISG Research on 02 June 2016

If you’re a sales or marketing executive or manager, your window of business opportunity is closing rapidly. In fact it started closing the day you began your job. Time is not on your side – and your career may well hang in the balance. I want to help you shift that balance to your advantage. My name is Tony Compton. I’m a new member of the industry analyst team at Ventana Research, and I’ll be... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Sales Performance, Social Media, Mobile Technology, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, Sales, Marketing, Sales Performance Management, Ma

Is NetSuite Sweet for Customers?

Posted by ISG Research on 27 May 2016

It’s widely agreed that customer experience is now the most important dynamic for business. Any organization that wants to retain loyal and even vocal customers should do everything possible to ensure and maintain customer satisfaction. Software companies, especially those that promise to provide CRM and effective interactions across any channel at any time, should be good examples of embracing... Read More

Topics: Sales Performance, Supply Chain Performance, Human Capital, Customer Performance, Operational Performance, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Uncategorized, NetSuite, TribeHR, HCM, HR, HRMS, Customer Experie

Next Generation of Product Information Management Empowers Digital Business

Posted by ISG Research on 24 May 2016

Organizations in all industries face various difficulties in managing product information. The most serious is providing complete, engaging information to consumers and customers on the internet. Newly developed products, mergers and acquisitions, changes to pricing and promotions in online commerce spur business growth, but these factors also increase the amount and complexity of product-related... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Sales Performance, Supply Chain Performance, PIM, Product Information Management, Sales, Market, Customer Performance, Operational Performance, Business Analytics, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Information Management, Uncategorized, Information Optimization

Can We Trust Salesforce for Business in the Cloud?

Posted by ISG Research on 16 May 2016

I have been meaning to write about Salesforce since its Dreamforce 2015 conference. Salesforce provides a platform, tools and applications for business and IT who claims to be the ‘no software’ company which as you will read is exactly what happened on May 10th. Heck, Salesforce is making a lot of advances on its platform, its applications and even with Analytics and the Internet of Things. These... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Sales Performance, NA14, Customer Performance, Operational Performance, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Performance, Cloud Computing, Financial Performance, Uncategorized