Viewpoints

The Roadmap for Strategic Planning Across the Enterprise

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Strategic planning has always been difficult. But it is even more so in this age of rapid digital transformation, which frequently introduces disruptive changes. What’s needed, ironically, is a methodical approach to how an organization manages strategic planning to allow for beneficial disruption, balancing finance and operations, engaging existing expertise and factoring in... Read More

Topics: Operations & Supply Chain

Creating Better Accountability and Experiences in Work Management

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint All organizations can improve. Every business entity, regardless of the state of its current performance, can up its productivity and utilize its resources better. Each can do better in the timely completion of tasks that are essential for its daily work agenda and related business activities. The fundamental purpose of work management and supporting tasks is to enable... Read More

Topics: Operations & Supply Chain

Continuous Planning Provides Action, Agility and Accuracy

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The term “continuous planning” may conjure up images of never-ending meetings in which nothing gets accomplished, but Ventana Research uses it to describe a highly collaborative, action-oriented approach to corporate planning built on frequent, short planning cycles. This style of planning enables organizations to enhance the relevance and accuracy of their plans for three... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Software Drives the 21st Century Tax Department

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The challenges facing tax departments are mounting. Governments worldwide are scrutinizing companies’ reporting more closely in an attempt to raise revenue. In response, corporate boards and executives increasingly are demanding greater visibility into direct (income) tax positions and their implications. Their goal is to oversee the process more closely. They aim to plan more... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Simplifying Payroll and HCM Across Geographies

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Organizations today must continually reassess their human capital management (HCM) strategies and supporting technologies. They must do this both to maximize the value of the workforce but to deliver the best possible employee experience, an objective that has become a top priority across many industries. More specifically, organizations must find an efficient way to utilize all... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

A Complete View of the Customer Enables a Better Experience

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint A lot is said and written today about “the age of the customer” and terms such as “customer journeys” and “customer experience” are used in many contexts. However, unlike in the ‘90s, it’s now possible for organizations to develop a more complete view and interact with the customer in a personalized manner. Our benchmark research finds that most organizations (70%) have come to... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience

A New Era in Messaging as a Service

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The transition to cloud computing has introduced new challenges for organizations seeking to satisfy the next generation of business requirements for digital transformation. Doing this is not simple; the reality is that the many disparate cloud-related technologies and the methods used to interconnect them were designed neither to interoperate easily nor to function in real time... Read More

Topics: Data

Three Ways Predictive Analytics Add Value to Manufacturers

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Many manufacturers are benefiting from predictive analytics today. For years manufacturers have been collecting data from their manufacturing processes. As the internet of things (IoT) has evolved, manufacturers have even more data at their disposal. They are collecting data from the supply chain. They are collecting data from production processes. They are collecting data as... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology

Maximize the Value of Manufacturing Data Sources

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Manufacturing data comes in many shapes and sizes, from big data sources to unstructured documents. To be competitive and operate efficiently, manufacturers must use all the data at their disposal to improve their business processes. One-quarter of manufacturers report that they are working with more than 20 different data sources. These sources include everything from... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology

Embracing Technology for ISO 45001 OHS Standards

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The mission to assure the health and safety of workers is essential and requires applied policies and processes to reduce overall injuries in the workplace. Since the passage of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 employers have made significant progress in ensuring work areas are free of recognized hazards. Nevertheless, the International Labour Organization, an... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Give Business Analysts Better Choices for BI on Data Lakes

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Big data is valuable. Our benchmark research shows that using big data analytics results in better communication, better alignment of the business, a competitive advantage, better responsiveness and decreased time to market. But big data comes in many forms, from many sources and is not always easy to work with. These complexities have caused many organizations to become too... Read More

Topics: Big Data

The Value of Multi-Model Databases

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Relational database technology first appeared almost a half-century ago and for decades the database market appeared to be consolidating around the use of relational databases for most types of workloads, even if it wasn’t very well suited to some of these workloads. More recently, though, as the big data market has exploded organizations have become less reliant on relational... Read More

Topics: Data

The Rise of Talent Engagement for Managers

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Engagement is essential to empower every employee to perform his or her best, which is a key priority among HR and business leaders. It’s critical for ensuring that the workforce – almost always an organization’s most valuable asset – is delivering maximum value to the organization while valuing its own role in the organization’s success. Unfortunately, though, discussions about... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Streamlining Finance Processes for Subscription Billing

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The subscription business model has grown in popularity with providers of services or products because it establishes a regular, predictable income stream. This is particularly true for technology companies. However, the subscription model poses challenges, primarily in handling the accounting and billing for subscriptions. Our benchmark research on recurring revenue finds that... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Data Lake Platforms: The Key to Success

Posted by ISG Software Research on 19 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Data lakes are important. They provide the opportunity to analyze data from not just one but all sources and at any level of detail, which improves business outcomes. Participants in our research reported that using big data analytics enabled better communication and alignment in the organization. These organizations share more information and therefore have more consistency in... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Effective Compensation Strategies for Talent Management

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Talent management processes have been steadily advancing over the last five years, along with organizations’ ability to efficiently manage hiring, performance reviews and compensation plans to achieve expected outcomes. But many organizations’ talent management has not incorporated market data into compensation applications, leaving them unable to ensure that compensation... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Les détaillants améliorent leurs performances grâce aux données de flux d’événements

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Point de vue de l'analyste La diffusion des données en continu transforme le fonctionnement des détaillants. L’évolution du commerce « brick and mortar » vers le commerce omnicanal permet aux entreprises d’avoir de meilleures informations sur le comportement des clients tout en augmentant les attentes des consommateurs concernant leur expérience client. Les applications en ligne et mobiles sont... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Einzelhändler verbessern die Leistung mithilfe von Ereignisdaten

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analysten-Standpunkt Das Streaming von Daten verändert die Arbeitsweise von Einzelhändlern. Die Entwicklung des Einzelhandels von stationär zu Omnichannel hat Unternehmen bessere Informationen über das Kundenverhalten geliefert und gleichzeitig die Erwartungen der Verbraucher hinsichtlich ihres Kundenerlebnisses erhöht. Onlineanwendungen und Apps sind zur Norm geworden und Kunden erwarten... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Multinational Corporations Need Intercompany Financial Management

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Ventana Research defines intercompany financial management (IFM) as a discipline for structuring and handling transactions within a corporation and between its legal entities that is designed to maximize staff efficiency and accounting accuracy while also optimizing tax exposure, minimizing tax leakage, and ensuring consistent tax and regulatory compliance. Better execution of... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Better Insights with External Data

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint External data can be valuable to many organizations for a variety of reasons. It can be used by planning and operations teams to benchmark an organization’s financial or operational performance. It can enrich the data an organization collects and analyzes about its customers, prospects and partners. It can augment machine learning analyses to produce more accurate models. For... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Three Key Planning Deficiencies Impeding Successful Decision Making

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Any crisis, whether worldwide or impacting a single organization, tests an executive team’s ability to seize a fleeting opportunity, address an existential problem or mitigate future risks. Global turmoil highlights the need for the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) group to quickly deliver action-oriented advice and analysis that enables executives and managers to... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Plan for Business Continuity, Sustainability and Success

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint In times of rapidly changing business conditions, organizations must adapt with agility to ensure business continuity and success. The ability to move through rapid planning, budgeting and review cycles with tools that facilitate collaborative work are of specific importance. Of course these capabilities are valuable in steady-state conditions, but they will generate additional... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Scalability and Flexibility Critical to the Modern Data Warehouse

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Today’s fast-paced world requires responsiveness in all types of interactions with customers, prospects, partners and employees. Organizations must be able to respond in the moment or risk missing the opportunity altogether. To do this, the systems and process an organization has in place must be agile enough to deal with the constant changes it faces. And, with the volumes of... Read More

Topics: Big Data

The New Demands of Total Compensation Management

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Key success drivers for organizations have changed in recent years. While workforce productivity, innovation, cost management and efficient processes will always be critical, business imperatives related to agility, enterprise-wide collaboration and transparency have also now developed into primary concerns for leadership. These themes have grown in importance largely due to... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Personalizing Compensation in Smaller Organizations

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint HR leaders and compensation managers are increasingly examining the potential business benefits of personalizing total rewards components. For smaller organizations these efforts are not overly complex, but as they grow to become mid-sized with more complex and varied compensation plans and approaches, the task of scaling personalization efforts changes. This is particularly the... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Insurers Use Event Stream Data to Transform Services

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Streaming data is transforming how insurance companies provide their services. It can offer critical information needed to underwrite risks with better information, detect and prevent fraudulent claims, deliver world-class customer service and tie together disparate internal legacy systems. In the past most insurance processing systems had a transaction-oriented approach. Each... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Personalized Compensation for the Employee Experience

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint HR professionals and business leaders today have a challenging new set of workforce dynamics to deal with. They need to attract and retain talent from multiple generations with different career and compensation goals and interests. In today’s tight labor market organizations must remain talent-competitive by constantly evaluating the effectiveness of how they entice and incent... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Eliminating Bottlenecks in Analytics

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint For many organizations, analytics processes are riddled with roadblocks. There are many valid reasons why these roadblocks existed in the past, and they were often based on technical limitations. Even though storage and compute capacity have increased dramatically, many of the approaches that were designed for the constraints of the past are still in place today. It’s time to... Read More

Topics: Analytics

Changing Data Patterns Are Impacting Analytics

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Collectively, we are amid a transition from data at rest to data in motion. Large volumes of data are streaming into organizations from all sides and with increasing frequency, forcing organizations to rethink how they process data. And the changing nature of the frequency with which data informs decisions requires a corresponding change in analytic approaches. The batch... Read More

Topics: Analytics

Moving from Analytics to Action Requires Planning

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Good analytics requires planning and good planning requires analytics. These worlds have largely been kept separate for decades but they shouldn’t be because each activity informs the other. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to conjoin the two; in our recent Value Index assessment of Analytics and Business Intelligence vendors, only one-third of the vendors we evaluated offered... Read More

Topics: Analytics

Can Your Data Keep Up with Your AI and ML Efforts?

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint As data volumes and data velocities increase, more and more decisions involving that data are being made using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) technologies. However, operationalizing AI and ML models requires a dynamic, modern data architecture. Relying on traditional data management architectures that employ batch processing won’t be sufficient to deal... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology

Improve Financial Services with Event Stream Data

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Streaming data will be transformative to the future of financial services organizations. It can provide the critical, timely information needed to deliver world-class customer service, detect and prevent fraud, tie together disparate legacy systems or power new services and sources of revenue. In the past, most financial services systems had a transaction-oriented approach; each... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Total Compensation Considerations in Financial Services

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint While it may be common knowledge that financial services organizations include annual cash components as the cornerstone of their compensation plans, effectively managing the more unique and complex aspects of these plans is essential. Awards allocation processes and decisions at these organizations can be very dynamic and iterative, and while average overall compensation levels... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Retailers Improve Performance Using Event Stream Data

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Streaming data is transforming how retailers operate. Retail’s evolution from brick-and-mortar to omnichannel has provided organizations with better information about customer behavior while also increasing the expectations of consumers regarding their customer experience. Online and mobile applications have become the norm and shoppers now expect real-time information about... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Creating a Data-Driven Culture

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Organizations today have access to data about nearly everything related to their business. This includes customer preferences, operations on the production line, movement of goods through the supply chain, location of field service personnel and an ever-expanding host of other data from numerous sources. The challenge for any organization is how to ensure it will take advantage... Read More

Topics: Analytics

Building the Best Team and Reducing Turnover for Organizational Resilience

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint In today’s fluid operating environment, organizations must be agile and resilient to deal successfully with unpredictable events and rapid changes in their operating environment. They must stay ahead of business risks and opportunities by having the right people, data, processes and technology to deal with: Shifts in how and where people work Ever-changing regulations and... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Infuse Analytics with AI and Machine Learning

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Analytics is expanding beyond merely providing historical insights. For decades, analyses have been largely limited to displaying information about what happened in the past. These analyses offer some insight into why things happened but very little information about what should be done in the future. The viewer of the information was expected to know what to do with the... Read More

Topics: Analytics

Optimizing the B2B Marketing Recipe for Success

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The focus on B2B marketing success has become a significant opportunity to refine the planning, operations and market strategy, enabling performance and agility at a speed and intelligence previously thought impossible. The methods and processes used must be reexamined and should meet the requirements of business continuity as marketing operates in a more virtual and resilient... Read More

Topics: Marketing

Improving the Employee Experience and Internal Mobility for Workforce Agility

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint As operating environments become more fluid and less predictable, it becomes more important to build organizational adaptability and resilience, especially for the leadership team. In such circumstances, human resources and finance departments must collaborate effectively to meet two related challenges: how best to enhance workforce agility and how to eliminate unnecessary... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

The New Age of Employee Engagement Technology

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Organizations must operate with agility to survive and thrive during periods of change and uncertainty. The modern business environment features fluid challenges and opportunities, particularly those related to the workforce and the organization’s strategic business goals and priorities. Changing conditions might also stem from factors internal to the organization, such as... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

The Way Forward with RPA

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a core digital technology for increasing productivity and efficiency, speeding the completion of work, and increasing its quality and controllability. The use of RPA is evolving to include a broader set of more complex automation capabilities, and by infusing intelligent methods and techniques in processes, RPA can be instrumented for very... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

The Modernization of Video Communications

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The important role that video plays in digital communications has been clear for some time, and our benchmark research finds it to be one of the highest growth channels for communications in 35% of organizations. The demand for engaging and retaining customers continues to place pressure on organizations to be digitally effective in their communications, and video is a key part... Read More

Topics: Digital Technology

Time to Take Another Look at MDM

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Adoption of cloud and edge computing infrastructure has brought many benefits to organizations of all sizes. It has improved business agility by reducing the need for upfront purchasing, configuration and deployment of infrastructure, and reduced the complexity and cost of data movement by taking data processing closer to where the data is generated. However, this has also... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Five Factors Driving Data-Intensive Information Architectures

Posted by ISG Software Research on 18 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Digital transformation is driving organizations to become much more data intensive. Organizations now process information from an increasing number of internal and external sources. There are many more devices generating information, including IoT sensors. The consumerization of IT and the focus on improving customer, partner and workplace experiences requires organizations to... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Job Descriptions: A New Opportunity for HR Technology Innovation

Posted by ISG Software Research on 16 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Job descriptions have long served as a foundational element of an HR department’s daily operations. This is largely due to the organization needing a common lens and framework through which to hire, evaluate, develop and compensate employees. And in fact, one of the few items in the HR toolkit that has been able to serve as that lens is job descriptions. In the absence of these... Read More

Topics: Human Capital Management

Get Ready for the New Era of Customer Experience

Posted by ISG Software Research on 16 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Organizations had to move quickly to cope with the shock caused by the pandemic in 2020. They had to recreate their operations in remote form, using technology to extend into workers’ homes to stay open. In the process, this revealed that the tools and business practices traditionally used to run contact centers were out of date. Sometimes a way of operating is successful enough... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience

Building Agility Through Continuous Planning

Posted by ISG Software Research on 15 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Periods of disruptive change highlight the value of faster, more agile, and more predictive planning and decision-making processes. Finance teams must be able to respond quickly to changing business conditions to provide timely, action-oriented analysis and guidance to decision makers. To accomplish this, CFOs and leadership teams must have the processes and technology to... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance

Cloud Migration Tips, Tricks and Traps

Posted by ISG Software Research on 15 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint For a variety of reasons, organizations are moving their workloads to the cloud. Our research shows that one-third of organizations have their primary data lake platforms in the cloud and most organizations (86%) expect the majority of their data to be in the cloud at some point in the future. Those organizations that already have the majority of their data in the cloud report... Read More

Topics: Big Data

Sales Performance Management is Key to Sales Team Success

Posted by ISG Software Research on 15 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint Sales leaders continue to face challenges in hitting revenue targets. That's no secret. Pressure is coming from increased competition, better-informed buyers who are doing internet research—and more buyers overall. Leaders have various levers available that can improve a team’s chances of hitting targets. They include ensuring that the territories, quotas and incentive schemes... Read More

Topics: Sales

Contact Center Quality Processes Must Modernize for the Digital Era

Posted by ISG Software Research on 15 July 2022

Analyst Viewpoint The tried-and-true quality assurance processes that many contact center practitioners relied on for years are probably well out of date. It is time to reevaluate how quality is tracked and measured, and to implement some sensible new practices that take into consideration the ways in which operations have evolved. Traditional quality starts with recording—grabbing the actual... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience