Oracle announced significant updates to its Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) software at the recently held Oracle Cloud World. The application suite includes procurement, inventory management, warehouse management, order management and transportation management. SCM tasks are mostly small-scale and repetitive, yet the processes they support are far from simple. They involve the intricate choreography of often complex activities that require the accurate communication and...
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Topics:
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
AI,
continuous supply chain,
Continuous Supply Chain & ERP,
Digital Applications
Rebalancing supply chains to improve resiliency has been a focus of enterprises with even moderately complex and long supply chains for the past four years. One aspect of this rebalancing is that it almost always involves higher costs. Volume discounts and bargaining power are reduced when more suppliers are used, or an alternate supplier may have higher factor costs and therefore must charge more. Logistics costs might increase, and when an enterprise moves from just-in-time to just-in-case...
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Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Business Planning,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Continuous Supply Chain & ERP
I previously explained how master data management helps provide trust in data, making it one of the most significant aspects of an enterprise’s strategic approach to data management. More recently, I discussed how it has a role to play in accelerating data democratization as part of data intelligence initiatives. Along with data quality, MDM enables organizations to ensure data is accurate, complete and consistent to fulfill operational business objectives. While it is an established and mature...
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Topics:
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Analytics and Data
Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 market agenda for Operations and Supply Chain, continuing the guidance we have offered for more than two decades to help enterprises across industries derive optimal value and improved outcomes from business technology.
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Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Property Technology,
Supplier Relationship Management,
Continuous Supply Chain & ERP
Since a majority of today’s workforce wasn’t around in the 1990s, it’s worth noting that “business process reengineering” was all the rage. The purpose was to review, restructure and redesign core business processes to achieve substantial improvements in market and customer responsiveness, productivity, cycle times and quality. One reason for its popularity (beyond being a money spinner for consultants) was the promised ability for the newly available enterprise resource planning systems to be...
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Topics:
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
Continuous Supply Chain & ERP
We added purchasing, sourcing and payments to our core Office of Finance focus areas this year to reflect new and important opportunities to use technology to gain effectiveness through greater efficiency. Technology continues to lubricate the wheels of commerce, aided by a financial services sector that is constantly innovating, responding to market-driven opportunities to reduce costs, increase demand or lower risk. Ventana Research asserts that, in many cases, technology makes new forms or...
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Topics:
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
Continuous Supply Chain & ERP
I am 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: Product Experience 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 that reflect the real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal to vendors supporting the...
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Topics:
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain
Having just completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Product Experience Management, I want to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced over the last two years. The product information management software market is quite mature and products from any of the vendors we assess could be used to effectively deliver information to help your organization improve its operations. But as we established the definition of product experience management (PXM), the...
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Topics:
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain
Having just completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Product Experience Management, I want to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced over the last two years. The product information management software (PIM) market is quite mature and products from any of the vendors we assessed can be used to effectively deliver information to help your organization improve its operations. But as we established the definition of product experience management (PXM), the...
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Topics:
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain
I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The 2023 Ventana Research Value Index: Customer Experience Management 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 derived from RFP responses submitted by customer experience (CX) vendors. These categories reflect...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
Ventana Research recently announced its 2023 Market Agenda in the expertise area of Marketing, continuing the guidance we have offered for nearly two decades to help organizations derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
intelligent marketing
Ventana Research recently announced its 2023 research agenda for Operations and Supply Chain, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for nearly two decades to help organizations across industries derive optimal value and improved outcomes from business technology.
Read More
Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Product Information Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
Property Technology,
Supplier Relationship Management
Having just completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Customer Experience Management, I want to share some of my observations about how the market has developed. We found that there are many tools available for various needs related to customer management and communication, ranging from marketing tools to contact center systems to data and analytics applications. It is rare to find all the components fully integrated into a single platform, although that appears to be where the...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
The technology underpinning customer experience (CX) is a hodgepodge of tools that have been developed for niche use cases and then expanded to fill broader roles. Examples include the old (CRM, help desk software and speech analytics) and the new (customer data platforms and conversational AI). This is because CX is a set of very specialized processes that happen in different parts of the enterprise, managed by people who often do not connect with peers handling related processes....
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Marketing Performance Management,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
agent management,
intelligent marketing,
Digital Experience Platform
Ventana Research recently announced its 2022 Market Agenda in the expertise area of Marketing, continuing the guidance we have offered for nearly two decades to help organizations derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Marketing Performance Management,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
intelligent marketing,
Digital Experience Platform
Ventana Research is sharing insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index: Agent Management 2022 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 incorporated in a request for proposal to customer experience vendors...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce
The 2022 Ventana Research Value Index for agent management software is published, offering interesting observations about how the market is advancing to provide more sophistication to agents and the management of them. The market is now characterized by applications integrated into multifunction suites, a significant change accelerated by the pandemic in the short term and vendor consolidation over a longer period. The core applications — workforce management scheduling, call recording and...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
Account-based marketing (ABM) serves as a model for how a complex manual activity can be improved and automated. That does not mean it always goes well. ABM is a practice that many B2B marketers swear by, but it can be very difficult to get a technology-enhanced ABM program up and running.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Marketing Performance Management,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
intelligent marketing,
Digital Experience Platform
Subscription management and billing services help organizations offer unique benefits and enhance delivery to customers. By making services more personalized, organizations can acquire – and retain – more customers.
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Topics:
Sales,
Office of Finance,
Continuous Planning,
embedded analytics,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Business Planning,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
natural language processing,
revenue and lease accounting,
continuous supply chain,
Subscription Management,
partner management,
Process Mining,
Streaming Analytics,
Supplier Relationship Management,
AI and Machine Learning
Among the many digital economy trends written about in recent years, one of the most significant has been the adoption of a subscription business model. For organizations with a business model that also includes reselling third-party products and services, this shift to subscription services adds complications and potential challenges.
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
Subscription Management
The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.
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Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Analytics,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Technology,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
Conversational Computing,
collaborative computing,
continuous supply chain,
work experience management,
AI and Machine Learning
The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.
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Topics:
Sales,
Analytics,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
AI and Machine Learning
We are happy to share some insights about Viamedici EPIM drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.
Read More
Topics:
Voice of the Customer,
Collaboration,
Data Governance,
Data Preparation,
Information Management,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
blockchain,
data lakes,
intelligent marketing
We are happy to share some insights about Contentserv CS drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
Field service is one element of the service-delivery process that an organization must get right or risk alienating important customers and causing friction in the relationship. The customer experience is directly affected by the timeliness, speed and accuracy of on-site work. Consequences of poor performance can hurt revenue, particularly in B2B situations where failures may cause expensive shutdowns or delays in conducting business.
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
We are happy to share some insights about Perfion drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.
Read More
Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
We are happy to share some insights about Winshuttle EnterWorks drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
Read More
Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.
Read More
Topics:
Customer Experience,
Human Capital Management,
Marketing,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
Continuous Planning,
embedded analytics,
Learning Management,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Data Governance,
Data Preparation,
Information Management,
Internet of Things,
Business Planning,
Contact Center,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Workforce Management,
Financial Performance Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Technology,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
Revenue,
blockchain,
natural language processing,
data lakes,
Total Compensation Management,
robotic finance,
Predictive Planning,
employee experience,
candidate engagement,
Conversational Computing,
Continuous Payroll,
collaborative computing,
mobile computing,
continuous supply chain,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
extended reality,
intelligent marketing,
sales enablement,
work experience management,
robotic automation,
AI and Machine Learning,
lease and tax accounting
We are happy to share some insights about inRiver PIM drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
We are happy to share some insights about Riversand PX 360 drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
Customer experience (CX) tools are going through a transition, from piecemeal applications designed to solve narrowly defined problems, to broader suites with integrated functionality. This is occurring along multiple fronts in CX. Software for managing inbound interactions and customer issues is being gathered into CX suites sometimes described as Customer Experience Management (CEM). On the marketing side, the phenomenon is seen in the creation of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs).
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Voice of the Customer,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
intelligent marketing
Customer Service & Support (CSS) is a software segment that provides tools for tracking and resolving customer problems, primarily through contact centers. The segment has been mature for decades but today is reinvigorated by a new emphasis on workflows and automation. Vendors, like ServiceNow, have been innovative in developing new technologies for managing self-service and field service, and providing agents with contextually relevant information during interactions. The new technologies...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
AI and Machine Learning
We are happy to share some insights about Magnitude Agility PIM drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
We are happy to share some insights about Salsify ProductXM drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
When we speak of the “customer experience,” we are really referring to the results of a broad spectrum of activities that collectively we describe as a journey or a lifecycle. In the past, how we spoke about customers was largely determined by the limited view of what transpired during short, contact center interactions. Customer experience (CX) evolved as a way to incorporate more facets of behavior into an assessment of the customer’s ultimate value and intent than is possible by looking only...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
intelligent marketing
We are happy to share some insights about Pimcore Platform drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
We are happy to share some insights about Akeneo Serenity drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
We are happy to share some insights about Informatica's Product 360 drawn from our latest Value Index research, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.
Read More
Topics:
Marketing,
Data Governance,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
data operations,
Office of Revenue
I am 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: Product Information Management 2021 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 incorporated in a request for proposal to product information...
Read More
Topics:
Sales,
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning
Having just completed the 2021 Ventana Research Value Index for Product Information Management, I want to share some of my observations about how the market and category have advanced since our first examination over 15 years ago.
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Topics:
Marketing,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain,
Office of Revenue
I am 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: Contact Center in the Cloud 2021 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 incorporated in a request for proposal to cloud contact center...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
Having just completed the 2021 Ventana Research Value Index for Contact Center in the Cloud, I want to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced since our assessment three years ago. The trend towards cloud deployment for contact center infrastructure has accelerated, partly (but not exclusively) due to the urgency of the 2020 pandemic. CCaaS has been generally accepted as a safe, reliable alternative to premises-based ACDs that also has benefits in cost-control,...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
There are many software components that facilitate contact center operations. Historically, the industry has relied, in part, on niche or best-of-breed applications but this is shifting in favor of broadly integrated suites or ecosystems. When we look at CX trends beyond the contact center, the shift is even more pronounced, with the bundling/collection of applications from martech to CRM-incorporating software that were formerly/previously purchased separately.
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
marketing sales
Business phone systems and contact center platforms received renewed attention in 2020 as organizations acquired tools for agents working from home. That put the spotlight on vendors, like Avaya, that have feet in both worlds. Since both forms of communications technology are well-suited to the cloud, Avaya has developed its Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) portfolios in parallel. The effort has borne fruit, with significant product...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
Digital commerce affects almost everyone’s lives. It is hard to remember a time when one could not sign on to a website like Amazon, order a product, pay for it and have it delivered to your front door within days, not weeks. Although catalogues have been around for a century or so, the digital-commerce revolution has changed the way we think about shopping for many of our everyday and special occasion products. Extend this to digital services, such as streaming videos or online games, and...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
AI and Machine Learning
With modern enterprises adopting and expanding their digital business with subscription and usage business, organizations need to think beyond the primacy of sales as their source of business success. A sustained customer experience is key, representing an organizational and cultural shift from the traditional emphasis on new sales to an equally important focus on customer retention and upsell/cross-sell opportunities. This mindset is also important to organizations involved in digital commerce...
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Topics:
Sales,
Marketing,
Analytics,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Financial Performance Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management
The current pandemic has disrupted many of the traditional sales methods used by field-sales organizations to engage, and sell to, buyers. In an effort to provide help, many vendors have recently announced new features that focus less on the management of sales organizations and more on tools to help salespeople sell. This has been coupled with a renewed interest in using data to help with the science, alongside the art, of selling, as referenced in my AP: The Art and Science of Sales from the...
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Topics:
Sales,
Analytics,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management (SPM),
Digital Technology,
sales enablement,
AI and Machine Learning
This has been a dramatic year for contact centers. The underlying technology has been changing for some time, but that change is now accelerating because of the urgent operational shifts forced by the pandemic. When you can’t gather dozens or hundreds of people into a single, open-plan site, you must look at alternative models for staffing and interaction handling. You must also work harder to create positive customer experiences across multiple contact channels.
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
AI and Machine Learning
It’s very exciting to embark on a new chapter of one’s career, so I am thrilled to be joining Ventana Research to lead the practice of expertise in customer experience (CX). Some who know me might remember that I’ve been in this industry since a much younger version of me edited Call Center Magazine in the 1990s and 2000s. Others might have crossed paths in my role at several industry analyst firms. I’ve been around for quite a while, invigorate and help CX emerge as a competitive...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Voice of the Customer,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
agent management
The last decade has seen exponential growth amongst subscription-based business models. Pioneered in the B2C market with cloud-based SaaS offerings, the last decade has seen exponential growth in the share of the economy that is now subscription based. Increasingly, this modern business model is permeating throughout more traditional style industries and companies. But regardless of whether a company is natively subscription based, or is transitioning, maintaining this growth requires...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
embedded analytics,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Internet of Things,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
natural language processing,
robotic finance,
revenue and lease accounting,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
intelligent sales,
sales enablement,
AI and Machine Learning
Subscription-based business models have seen exponential growth over the last decade. The growth of this recurring revenue business model, where a subscriber commits to repeatedly pay for a good or device for a fixed or indefinite timeline, has been caused by the shift from the one-time selling of physical products to selling digital services on a subscription basis. The first phase of this transformation was led by “digitally native” organizations, typically B2C, that have only ever offered...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
embedded analytics,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Internet of Things,
Contact Center,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Commerce,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
natural language processing,
robotic finance,
revenue and lease accounting,
Subscription Management,
agent management,
intelligent sales,
sales enablement,
AI and Machine Learning
I’m very excited to announce to my network as well as the ever-expanding Ventana Research community that I’m now directing Ventana Research’s Office of Sales practice. The focus is to guide and educate sales and business professionals on the selling applications and technology including digital commerce, price and revenue management, product information management, sales enablement, sales performance management and subscription management. While these are the main topics of our Office of Sales...
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Topics:
Sales,
embedded analytics,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Technology,
Work and Resource Management,
Conversational Computing,
collaborative computing,
mobile computing,
intelligent sales,
sales enablement,
AI and Machine Learning
Economic dynamics and market pressures during a black-swan event can wreak havoc on efforts to effectively manage revenue operations and pricing for business continuity. For many organizations, environmental changes disrupt the methods by which these essential business processes are managed can be disrupted, damaging the revenue streams that create profitability. The array of pricing strategies and related promotional tactics across channels for configure, price and quote (CPQ), digital...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Human Capital Management,
Marketing,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Internet of Things,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Workforce Management,
Workforce Planning,
Price and Revenue Management,
Total Compensation Management,
Conversational Computing
Marketing is inextricably linked to business success, and digital technology is essential to an organization’s overall marketing potential because it generates interest and brand awareness. In a black-swan event, the marketing department often is overwhelmed by short-term demands, so in these situations it’s of the essence that digital transformation gets the attention it deserves. In challenging times, a “putting-out-fires” mentality tends to take hold — this is not unreasonable but in...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Technology,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Conversational Computing
Contact centers play a substantial role in an organization’s success. The customer journey is engaged here, at each moment of interaction. Agents, whether human or machine-driven, are intrinsic to the customer experience and the value of the contact center. Customers are essential to an organizations’ overall business potential because they generate revenue. In a black-swan event, demand for customer service may spike or dip, so in these situations it’s of the essence that agents get the...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Technology,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Conversational Computing
Subscriptions are the future of business. Subscribers are essential to an organization’s overall business potential because they generate recurring revenue. In a black-swan event, demand for a subscription may spike or dip, so in these situations it’s of the essence that subscriptions get the attention they deserve. In challenging times, a “subscriber-first” mentality tends to take hold — this is not unreasonable but in focusing on satisfying subscribers, business leaders too often forget that...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Technology,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Subscription Billing,
Conversational Computing,
Subscription Management,
Subscriber Experience
Products and services are the foundation of every organization, regardless of its industry or size. Products are essential to an organization’s overall business health because they generate revenue and engage buyers and customers. In a black-swan event, demand for a product may spike or dip, so in these situations it’s of the essence that products get the attention they deserve as they are marketed, sold, serviced and enhanced with innovations. In challenging times, a “customer-first” mentality...
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Topics:
Sales,
Customer Experience,
Marketing,
Office of Finance,
Voice of the Customer,
Analytics,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Technology,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Conversational Computing,
product experience management
Ventana Research recently announced its 2020 research agenda for marketing, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for nearly two decades to help organizations derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes. Chief Marketing Officers are under pressure to spearhead technology investments that help better align marketing experiences with their brand and to optimize consumer demand for products and services. This challenge is frequently heightened by a lack of centralized data...
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Topics:
Marketing,
Voice of the Customer,
Product Information Management,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
intelligent marketing
Ventana Research recently announced its 2020 research agenda for operations and the supply chain, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for nearly two decades to help organizations across industries derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes. Organizations must shift their focus on technology investments to include not just operational productivity but the efficiency of the processes that impact customers’ and workers’ experiences.
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Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Product Information Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
continuous supply chain
Ventana Research recently announced its 2020 research agenda for sales, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for nearly two decades to help organizations derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes. Chief sales and revenue officers face an imperative to manage the sales organization but they don’t always have the guidance they need to embrace technology and gain the best possible outcomes. As we look forward to 2020 we’re focusing on the selling experience and the...
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Topics:
Sales,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Commerce
I’ve written before about blockchain’s significant potential. A lot of the current discussion on the topic centers on cryptocurrencies and financial trading platforms, both of which are already in operation. However, my focus is on its applicability to business generally, especially in B2B commerce, where I believe there is significant potential for it to serve as a universal data connector. There’s also a great deal of potential for blockchain to provide individuals with greater power in ...
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Topics:
Sales,
Human Capital Management,
business intelligence,
Collaboration,
Internet of Things,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Digital Commerce,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
blockchain,
candidate engagement,
collaborative computing,
continuous supply chain
Managing sales processes and resources without careful planning is a recipe for failure. Effectiveness in sales starts with planning that involves the full range of stakeholders. This planning should involve a systematic process, incorporate all relevant information and be supported by capable software designed for this purpose. Furthermore, everyone who participates in sales-related activities, including those dealing with quotas, territories and resources, should be providing input for the...
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Topics:
Sales,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Commerce,
Subscription Management,
intelligent sales
By itself, data isn’t useful for business; the application of analytics is necessary to transform data into actionable information. Data analysis of one sort or another has long been a core competence of finance departments, applied to balance sheets, income statements or cash flow statements. Today, however, Finance must go beyond these basics by expanding the scope of the data being examined to include all financial and operational information that can yield actionable insights. Analysis thus...
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Topics:
Customer Experience,
Human Capital Management,
Voice of the Customer,
embedded analytics,
Learning Management,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Collaboration,
Data Governance,
Data Lake,
Data Preparation,
Information Management,
Internet of Things,
Contact Center,
Data,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Workforce Management,
Financial Performance Management,
Price and Revenue Management,
Digital Technology,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
ERP and Continuous Accounting,
blockchain,
natural language processing,
robotic finance,
Predictive Planning,
candidate engagement,
Intelligent CX,
Conversational Computing,
Continuous Payroll,
revenue and lease accounting,
collaborative computing,
mobile computing,
Subscription Management,
total rewards management,
intelligent marketing,
intelligent sales,
AI and Machine Learning
A recent analysis of our sales and operations planning (S&OP) dynamic insight research provides perspective on the current state of this core business process. Using concise web-based surveys, Ventana Research’s Dynamic Insights provide research participants with an immediate assessment of their company’s efforts as well as research- and experience-based advice on potential next steps to improve. For those who wish to do a quick assessment of their own company’s sales and operations planning,...
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Topics:
Continuous Planning,
Product Information Management,
Inventory Optimization,
Work and Resource Management,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Enterprise Resource Planning,
Sales and Operations Planning,
Sales Planning and Analytics
Advancing the potential of any business requires continuous improvement in the processes and technology that support it. Many companies have embraced attempts at a digital transformation, and it’s become a goal to which organizational resources and budgets have been dedicated around the globe.
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Topics:
Big Data,
Data Science,
Mobile,
Sales,
Customer Analytics,
Customer Engagement,
Customer Experience,
Human Capital Management,
Machine Learning,
Marketing,
Marketing Performance Management,
Mobile Technology,
Office of Finance,
Wearable Computing,
Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Customer Service,
Data Governance,
Data Integration,
Data Preparation,
Internet of Things,
Contact Center,
Information Optimization,
Product Information Management,
Digital Technology,
Digital Marketing,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Pricing and Promotion Management,
Cybersecurity,
Billing and Recurring Revenue,
Workforce Optimization,
collaboration for business,
mobile marketing
More than a year ago I wrote from personal experience about the challenges our firm encountered with Salesforce’s cloud computing systems and customer service and if we can trust them for business in the cloud. That perspective covered a range of issues that the behemoth cloud computing applications and platform company is facing regarding its service and technology. While Salesforce has shifted its customers like us and others to a different cloud computing environment, as it did in moving us...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Office of Finance,
Analytics,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Commerce,
Sales and Operations Planning,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Sales Enablement and Execution,
Machine Learning Digital Technology,
Sales Planning and Analytics
Our firm regularly explores the impacts of new technologies on business. Analytics is foremost among recently emerging technologies, which our benchmark research consistently confirms. In our research on next-generation sales analytics, fourth-fifths (82%) of participating organizations cited analytics as the most important technology trend for sales; however, several other technologies also are adding power and flexibility to the use of sales analytics.
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Mobile Technology,
Office of Finance,
Analytics,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Commerce,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Sales Enablement and Execution,
Machine Learning Digital Technology,
Sales Planning and Analytics
The importance of analytics for sales organizations is clear and, as I pointed out in my recent analyst perspective on the next generation of sales analytics, these capabilities optimize revenue potential. However, utilizing sales analytics requires a set of data skills that most organizations still find challenging and are thus not fully prepared to support. The efficient access and preparation of data underlies any analytics processes, which must meet demanding needs that are not always...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Machine Learning,
Office of Finance,
Analytics,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Technology,
Digital Commerce,
Sales and Operations Planning,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Sales Enablement and Execution,
Sales Planning and Analytics
I have been following advances in sales analytics since the 1990s. Over the last five years, however, I have seen evolution, not innovation. In most cases the information that analytics provides is too complicated and not contextualized enough for sales people who are not analytics experts to understand, let alone take action on. As I pointed out in my 2017 research agenda on sales, analytics is essential for planning that improves the impacts of sales efforts and meets the goals of the...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Mobile Technology,
Office of Finance,
Analytics,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Commerce,
Sales and Operations Planning,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Sales Enablement and Execution,
Machine Learning Digital Technology,
Sales Planning and Analytics
I am happy to provide my personal perspective on the potential of sales organizations, processes and technology to supercharge business activity in 2017. The sales processes of organizations – whether they involve digital commerce or direct or indirect physical selling – should be part of continuous optimization efforts to reach maximum results. To do this, the people leading and running sales processes must be able to use technology that supports their responsibilities and analyzes the crucial...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Machine Learning,
Mobile Technology,
Office of Finance,
Analytics,
Cloud Computing,
Collaboration,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management,
Digital Technology,
Digital Commerce,
Operations & Supply Chain,
Sales and Operations Planning,
Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing,
Sales Enablement and Execution,
Sales Planning and Analytics
Stibo Systems has been providing product information management (PIM) software for decades. Its work has helped many organizations worldwide take control of their product information by developing a master definition that can be published across many channels from Web to digital to print. We recognized its work with customers Delta Faucet and Masco Corp. in our 2015 Ventana Research Leadership Award in Information Management. In 2014 Stibo Systems customer Brady Corp. won a similar award for...
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Topics:
Master Data Management,
Sales,
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
Customer Experience,
MDM,
Mobile Technology,
PIM,
Stibo Systems,
Customer Performance,
Operational Performance,
Business Performance,
Cloud Computing,
Financial Performance,
Information Management,
Business Performance Management (BPM),
Financial Performance Management (FPM),
Information Optimization,
Product Information Management
The importance of product information management (PIM) has become clear in recent years and especially as it relates to master data management. As I recently wrote handling this business process effectively and using capable software should be priorities for any organization in marketing and selling its products and services but also interconnecting the distributed supply chain. Our research on product information management can help organizations save time and resources in efforts to ensure...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Master Data Management,
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
Enterworks,
Marketing,
Operational Performance Management (OPM),
Stibo Systems,
Webon,
Business Performance,
CIO,
Financial Performance,
IBM,
Informatica,
Information Management,
Oracle,
Information Optimization,
Product Information Management,
Riversand
Ventana Research defines product information management (PIM) as the practice of using information, applications and other technology to effectively support product-related processes across the customer, commerce and supply chain. As organizations increase the number and diversity of products and services they offer to customers and partners, they increasingly need to address limitations in the ways they manage and distribute product information, including related attributes and content that...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Master Data Management,
Supply Chain Performance,
Governance,
Marketing,
Operational Performance Management (OPM),
CIO,
Information Management,
Business Performance Management (BPM),
Financial Performance Management (FPM),
Information Optimization,
Product Information Management,
Sales Performance Management (SPM)
At the Informatica World 2014 conference, the company known for its data integration software unveiled the Intelligent Data Platform. In the last three years Informatica has expanded beyond data integration and now has a broad software portfolio that facilitates information management within the enterprise and through cloud computing. The Intelligent Data Platform forms a framework for its portfolio. This expression of broad potential is important for Informatica, which has been slow to...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Master Data Management,
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
Operational Performance,
Business Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Business Performance,
CIO,
Cloud Computing,
Customer & Contact Center,
Data Integration,
Data Management,
Financial Performance,
Informatica,
Information Applications,
Information Management,
Workforce Performance,
Information Optimization,
Product Information Management,
application
The need to be effective in the marketing, selling, manufacturing, distributing, and sourcing products requires more consistent and higher quality product information. This is where product information management (PIM) has great potential, and as I have attested is the responsibility of business to lead the process and technology improvements. Of course for PIM to be efficient IT needs to support business leadership to improve PIM and ensure access and integration of data and applications. One...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Sales,
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
Operational Performance,
Customer & Contact Center,
Information Applications,
Information Management,
Commerce,
Product Information Management,
Supply Chain
Managing the access, storage and use of data effectively can provide businesses a competitive advantage. Last year I outlined what the big deal is in big data, as the initial focus on the volume, velocity and variety of data – what my colleague Tony Cosentino calls the three V’s – is only one small piece of how organizations should evaluate this technology. The more balanced approach is to include what he calls the three W’s – the what, so what and now what, which shifts the focus to an...
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Topics:
Big Data,
Master Data Management,
Predictive Analytics,
Sales Performance,
MDM,
Operational Performance,
Business Analytics,
Business Intelligence,
Business Performance,
CIO,
Cloud Computing,
Data Governance,
Data Integration,
Financial Performance,
Information Applications,
Information Management,
Location Intelligence,
Operational Intelligence,
Product Information Management
Most organizations see improving the effectiveness of sales as a way to increase productivity. Those organizations that take advantage of the latest sales applications and technology are finding themselves with a competitive advantage, but many organizations lack the time and resources to assess and deploy appropriate platforms. That’s a shame, since most sales organizations have plenty to improve in their selling, forecasting, incentives and planning according to our latest research on sales...
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Topics:
Sales,
Sales Performance,
Marketing,
PIM,
Sales Compensation,
Sales Forecasting,
Operational Performance,
Business Performance,
Financial Performance,
CPQ,
CRM,
Product Information Management,
SFA
To maximize the potential of their investments, businesses must manage product information, yet for many businesses product information is scattered and duplicated in many systems, which leads to duplication of effort, incorrect information about product descriptions and prices and improper tracking of products, all of which increase costs and waste time. At the same time, for marketing products and streamlining their distribution through sales channels, making product information accessible to...
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Topics:
Master Data Management,
Sales,
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
Operational Performance,
Business Performance,
CIO,
Customer & Contact Center,
Information Management,
Commerce,
Product Information Management
Informatica is a Hot vendor when it comes to our Value Index for Data Integration. When it comes to meeting the business need for consistent and high-quality product information, Informatica just raised its prospects with its announced takeover of Heiler Software. Until now, Informatica has lacked a product information management (PIM) offering. Germany-based Heiler Software, whose presence has continued to grow in Europe and North America, was recently ranked as a Hot Vendor in our Value Index...
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Topics:
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
MDM,
PIM,
Operational Performance,
Business Performance,
CIO,
Customer & Contact Center,
Data Governance,
Financial Performance,
Information Management,
Product Information Management
When it comes to managing product information, organizations know they have room for improvement; only 27 percent trust their efforts completely, and less than a fifth (19%) are very satisfied with them. Almost half (48%) say they have too many incompatible tools, while 41 percent do not have a centralized information repository and 45 percent use a manual process to create a single complete, consistent and reliable product record. All of these facts and more from our product information...
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Topics:
Sales Performance,
Supply Chain Performance,
MDM,
PIM,
Operational Performance,
Business Intelligence,
Business Performance,
Customer & Contact Center,
Financial Performance,
Information Management (IM),
Product Information Management
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Topics:
Master Data Management,
Sales,
Sales Performance,
SAP,
Supply Chain Performance,
Enterworks,
Hybris,
Stibo Systems,
Webon,
Operational Performance,
Business Analytics,
Business Collaboration,
Business Performance,
Cloud Computing,
Customer & Contact Center,
Data Governance,
Financial Performance,
Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC),
IBM,
Information Management,
Location Intelligence,
Oracle,
Heiler,
Product Information Management,
Riversand