Christmas Music and Décor Before Thanksgiving Make Shoppers Lose Their Temper

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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SOASTA, a performance analytics firm, announced the results of its 2015 Holiday Retail Readiness Survey, which revealed:

• 66% of Americans expect they will lose their temper this holiday season over annoyances such:
  • 38% as traffic/parking
  • 37% long lines in stores and websites and
  • 19% mobile apps that don’t work
• 28% claiming that Christmas music and décor before Thanksgiving make them lose their temper.

The survey, fielded among 2,018 American adults aged 18 and older and conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of SOASTA, confirmed that parents* are especially susceptible (77%) to losing their cool during the holiday season, and the majority (58%) will seek to improve their mood with retail therapy.

The survey findings also reveal that 86% of holiday shoppers do holiday shopping online and that poor online performance has hurt holiday shopping experiences for more than half (57 %) of those Americans.

Retail Therapy to the Rescue – of Parents Especially

Another revealing survey finding is that 46% of Americans will turn to retail therapy to improve their mood this holiday season. One in four will buy themselves something:

• 20% will read product reviews online
• 13% will purchase holiday music/movies
• 11% will create online wish lists on retailer websites
• 10% will buy an outfit to look good at holiday parties

While men are just as likely as women to seek retail therapy this season (45% vs 47%, respectively), parents are more likely to seek retail therapy this holiday season than Americans without kids in the household (58% vs 41%.)

Poor Website Performance Hurts Holiday Shopping

The vast majority (86%) of American holiday shoppers say they shop online. Of them, more than half (57%) say that a website’s poor performance has hurt their holiday shopping.

Top reasons include slow websites (27%), crashing websites (26%) and orders that are guaranteed but don’t arrive on time (22%).

Many respondents (21%) say difficulty navigating sites to find what they need has put a damper on holiday shopping, and 17% say receiving incorrect orders has hurt their holiday shopping experience.

MY POV: What this is telling us is — well the same thing I’ve been writing about for years — customers care about the experiences they have and those experiences lead to enough irritation so they “vote with their feet” meaning they leave and go to a competitor. A large firm predicted that by the end of 2016 company will be competing on customer experience. My prediction – they always have been, it’s only now that everything is so transparent, that it’s happening faster and everything can see.. Like cave painting on wall, comments by customers online last millions of years for all to see.

@drnatalie, VP and Principal Analyst, Covering all things customer experience, performance analytics and mobile / social commerce

Constellation Named Independent Analyst Firm of the Year

Today the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations named Constellation Research Independent Analyst Firm of the Year for the second year in a row! The Constellation team is honored by the award. This is the third IIAR award bestowed upon Constellation since our founding in 2011 when we were named New Firm of the Year.

IIAR's members and other carefully vetted AR professionals evaluated Constellation against a rigorous set of criteria to independently and informatively select Constellation as Independent Analyst Firm of the Year. The most knowledgeable and critical analyst relations professionals comprise IIAR's survey pool. 

"Constellation is honored and humbled to be named Independent Analyst Firm of the year for the second year running. When we were founded five years ago we were determined to build a different type of research and advisory firm. We tasked ourselves with serving innovators seeking to create disruptions in their markets. We provided guidance to those whose advisory needs weren't fulfilled by traditional analyst firms. 

We experienced trials and triumphs as we grew the firm. Today though we are five years older, the goal hasn’t changed – unite star analysts with star clients, and engender a community and ecosystem that realizes the untapped potential of extraordinary ideas and people. We look forward to helping our clients achieve the art of the possible." - R "Ray" Wang, Chairman and Founder, Constellation Research

Marlin Equity Partners to Acquire LiveOps Cloud Platform Business

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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LiveOps, a global leader in cloud contact center and customer service solutions, and Marlin Equity Partners, a global investment firm with over $3 billion of capital under management, today announced the completion of Marlin’s acquisition of LiveOps Cloud Platform.

Venture capital firm Presidio Partners, an existing investor in LiveOps, participated in the acquisition alongside Marlin. Current LiveOps CEO, Vasili Triant, will remain at the helm of the newly acquired SaaS-based company, which will continue to operate as an independent entity focused on the ongoing development and innovation of its cloud contact center platform.

The LiveOps Agent Services business, formally split from LiveOps, Inc. in 2014, will continue to be a separate organization led by current General Manager of Agent Services, Greg Hanover. It has not been acquired as part of the agreement with Marlin, and will remain an active LiveOps Cloud Platform customer.

The award-winning LiveOps Cloud Platform has seen 84 percent growth in the last two years. The platform is a pure cloud offering that allows businesses of all sizes to rapidly deploy an instantly scalable, true multi-tenant contact center solution for unmatched quality of service, flexibility and business results. LiveOps Cloud Platform’s success is built on the company’s understanding that customer service isn’t just one of a brand’s primary differentiators, it’s the only one that matters.

Vasili Triant commented, “LiveOps has undergone a significant business transformation in the last few years that has seen us gain strong market share in both our contact center and agent businesses.

We’ve built a strong software platform based on our 14 years of experience, taking the lessons learned from our contact center agents, and the brands that employ them, to create the most comprehensive cloud contact center offering on the market today. Marlin shares our vision of creating outstanding experiences for brands and their customers via cloud-based services and we’re excited to take the next step in our evolution with them as our partner.

We believe that this acquisition positions both LiveOps businesses to refine and focus on their individual strategic objectives to accelerate growth. LiveOps has undergone a significant business transformation in the last few years that has seen us gain strong market share in both our contact center and agent businesses. 

We’ve built a strong software platform based on our 14 years of experience, taking the lessons learned from our contact center agents, and the brands that employ them, to create the most comprehensive cloud contact center offering on the market today. Marlin shares our vision of creating outstanding experiences for brands and their customers via cloud-based services and we’re excited to take the next step in our evolution with them as our partner. We believe that this acquisition positions both LiveOps businesses to refine and focus on their individual strategic objectives to accelerate growth.”

New REPORT: Leading the Thought Paradigms in Future of Work

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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People spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else. So it’s no surprise that in a fast-changing world, the workplace is transforming. As part of the larger digital transformation of business, the future of work is being discussed as a wide range of developments in both technology and culture. It is already driving massive innovation and become an opportunity for competitive advantage.

This report, from influencer marketing platform Little Bird, identifies the top 20 thought leaders on the Future of Work that the business world is paying attention to. It also identifies the top 20 companies paying the most attention to conversations about this topic.

According to LittleBird, the following 20 people don’t just talk about the Future of Work, they are among the smartest, most-connected people in the world talking about it. They won the respect of their peers through connecting and participating in social conversations. By observing who the community watches most, we can discover some of the best sources for intelligence and perspective in the future.

A new way for companies to keep ahead of market trends and gain a competitive advantage is to pay attention to the things thought leaders are saying on social networks. There’s incredible potential for companies to seize new competitive advantages, and grow their bottom line, all while benefitting the people who work for them. The next section shows the top 20 companies that are paying attention to the things that Future of Work experts are saying.

While my main coverage is not Future of Work, it is very related to this because bad customer experience comes from what employees implement- strategy, process, people, resources, technology –and if the people don’t have a good work experience they can’t create can amazing experience for customers. Just can’t happen.

@DrNatalie, VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research

Covering the Future of Customers, Work and Engagement

Microsoft Convergence EMEA Conference Announces New Innovations in #IOT and Digital Transformation Solutions

Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Role: Vice President and Principal Analyst focusing on the IOT of Customer Experience and how the cloud is driving more flexible, agile, and robust customer service and customer experiences. In-app or in device customer service is the future. Coverage Areas: Next Generation Customer, Digital Marketing Transformation Bio: As a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, Inc, Petouhoff works with Fortune 100 and 500’s Senior Leadership teams to create strategic customer experience (marketing, sales and service) solutions which engage customers, build brands and grow businesses. Combining her experience as a former Forrester software analyst, PWC systems integrator and change management consultant, Petouhoff leads executive workshops to discuss to not only…...

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The purpose of the digital transformation capabilities? So companies can reach out and better connect with customers. Microsoft’s customer engagement solution, Dynamics CRM 2016, will be available worldwide. Their focus has been on transforming their CRM offerings to leverage the full power of Microsoft – harnessing the strength of the intelligent cloud to help companies deliver amazing customer experiences across the breadth of sales, service, marketing and social engagements. Dynamics CRM’s strategy is clear: to enable organizations to personalize customer experiences – engaging customers at the right time, in the right place and with the right content; to give them the tools to be more proactive, and to empower them with the intelligence to be able to predict trends and identify patterns — to know what the customer needs and wants before they do.

Dynamics CRM 2016 is bringing the advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities of the Cortana Analytics Suite to preview their first intelligent, adaptive processes for sales, customer service and social:

• Intelligent selling with cross-sell recommendations so sales reps can predict which products and services a customer will need during the sales cycle.
• Intelligent customer service with knowledge articles recommendations to empower service agents with answers to questions so they can more effectively resolve customer cases and solve problems on the spot.
• Intelligent social with machine learning capabilities powering sentiment analysis, as well as the ability to process significant streams of data to detect social posts that are most likely to be customer service cases or new leads.
• Intelligent collaboration with Delve functionality to surface trending content that is most relevant to what a person is working on.

In addition, Dynamics CRM 2016 is also delivering significant enhancements in productivity, mobility and customer service:

• Productivity – Capabilities in CRM 2016 are seamlessly embedded into productivity tools, including Office 365. In CRM 2016, they’ve enhanced the CRM app for Outlook, delivered templates for their immersive Excel experience, simplified the creation of personalized sales documents in Word and enabled seamless access to contextual CRM documents across SharePoint, Office 365 Groups and OneDrive for Business.
• Mobility – CRM 2016 features full offline mobile capabilities for phones and tablets, the ability to create task-based mobile apps, Mobile Application Management with Microsoft Intune and next generation Cortana integration that surfaces CRM data for key sales activities, accounts and deals, and mobile marketing with SMS capabilities available with Dynamics Marketing in four countries.
• Unified Service – CRM 2016 delivers a single, unified solution for Customer Service across self-service, agent assisted service and field service. Building on the integration of Parature knowledge management in spring 2015, they now have a new role driven agent experience with the Interactive Service Hub, native Knowledge Management, surveys to capture voice of the customer and field service capabilities with our recent acquisition of FieldOne.

The future? They look to the future, and will continue to combine the strength of the intelligent cloud platform to their business application service where organizations will be empowered and proactive – saving costs, increasing customer loyalty and even saving patient lives. For example, combining the field service capabilities from FieldOne with the power of the Azure IoT suite, will be able to deliver predictive maintenance right to the user, so companies can move away from a break-fix model to actually provide service before a breakdown.  This will save time while creating efficiencies and predictability and increasing customer loyalty.

Intelligent customer engagement is here with Dynamics CRM 2016. This comprehensive release further strengthens their position as a leader in the CRM market and most importantly, brings even more value to our customers.

Interesting developments continue to come from Dynamics CRM. Looking forward to 2016.

Dr. Natalie Petouhoff

VP and Principal Analyst, Customer Facing Applications and IOT

New Research: Retail Customers Continue to Gain Power

As a result of the proliferation of digital technologies, the power in the retailer-consumer relationship continues to shift from the retailer to the consumer. New research by Constellation identifies five trends indicative of this shift. Retail supply chains must respond to these trends to maintain relevancy as customers continue to gain power. 

Download an excerpt of this research here

Microsoft announcements at Convergence Barcelona - Office365. Dynamics CRM and Power Apps

Holger Mueller

Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.  Coverage Areas: Future of Work Tech Optimization & Innovation  Background: Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a…...

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Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

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Microsoft is currently having its European Convergence conference in Barcelona - and has unleashed three major announcements, my colleague Alan Lepovsky and me take a first stab analyzing them.


 

So let's take a peek:

 

 

If you don't have a chance to watch - here are some of my takeaways - check for Alan's on his blog here:

 

 

• Office365 becomes secure and analytical - It looks like Microsoft is (finally) bringing together its Skype, Lync, Analytics, Cortana, Machine Learning capabilities to the benefit of the Office 365, a good development.
    
• MSFT Dynamics CRM now GA - Good to see Microsoft extending its CRM capabilities, bringing together its Machine Learning and Analytics capabilities for the benefit of CRM users, also good to see.
   
• PowerApps now enable business users - Good to see empowerment of end users - there will be a steep learning curve for business users building apps. But they are now in charge of their 'App Destiny' and are likely to step up to the task over time. IT leaders should not stop the ability - but find scalable ways of enabling business users to build their next generation Apps with e.g. Microsoft PowerApps. 

MyPOV

It's good to see Microsoft executing faster and bringing together new capabilities. Of course it helps to have a scalable and successful underlying infrastructure with Azure. And Azure innovations trickle through to Microsoft offerings higher in the technology stack - like Office 365 and Dynamics. Also good to see  brand new offerings leveraging this infrastructure, like PowerApps (who re-use capabilities announced to developers at the Build conference in spring) which is key for the future of many established vendors. 

 

End user programming is likely to disrupt the enterprise software landscape, so it is key for the established vendors like Microsoft to have an offering in place. What will help Microsoft is that it has a strong 'higher ground' in its ecosystem - with millions of Office users. And again can leverage industry partnerships it has put in place before with a large diversity of vendors - like SAP, Oracle and Salesforce.com - which allows richer end user applications than other similar platforms. 

 

Exciting time at Microsoft - we will be watching. 

 

2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 (C) Holger Mueller - All Rights Reserved

Industry Disruption - Healthcare Company Goes to 0 Data Centers in 12 months

Holger Mueller

Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.  Coverage Areas: Future of Work Tech Optimization & Innovation  Background: Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business Process as a…...

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During Constellation Research's Connected Enterprise event in Half Moon Bay last week, I had the chance to catch up with Shawn Wiora, CIO and CISO of Creative Solutions in Healthcare.

 

Creative Solutions in Healthcare is the largest independently owned and operated provider of skilled nursing facilities in Texas. But let's take a look:


 

If you don't have a chance to watch - here are the key takeaways:

 

• Start with a security audit first when taking over a new IT landscape. Wiora and the team developed a "Framework first, toys second" approach as a mantra for the next steps.
   
• Often HIPAA is used as an excuse for not being able to move to the cloud, but Wiora has read the law a few times, and there is nothing in the law that prevents healthcare companies from going to the cloud. As of today Creative Solution in Healthcare is the first healthcare company to have made the leap to the public cloud, to the best of our knowledge.
   
• Creative Solution in Healthcare used VMware vCloud Air, going from physical servers to a virtualized environment and moved from on premise data center to a public cloud data center.
   
• Wiora and the team had to move a lot of loads, but also used SaaS vendors like Ceridian Dayforce, Pointclickcare, in total over 40 different software vendors were involved, taking about a year for the whole process to virtualize loads and move them to the public cloud.
   
• Start small - Wiora started with IT servers, then moved on to the rest of the loads, virtualizing first and then moving to the public cloud.
   
• Security and Operations are handled better in the public cloud data centers than what Creative Solutions in Healthcare could have done on premises.
   
• Wiora and the team were aware of the cultural impact and provided members of the IT team a career road map, how they could guide their career onward. Training was offered to all IT team members, and all employees took advantage of the offer.
   
• One of the key benefits was that the IT team is now spending more time with the business, effectively being more engaged with the business as the need to take care of technology has gone down from 80% to 50% of the overall work time.

MyPOV

All to often we hear that legislation and compliance holds back innovation for enterprises. Kudos to Wiora and team for not believing on hearsay but reading the relevant law - and having the guts to then decide to act in an innovative way, moving all systems from on premises to the cloud. My hope is that this will inspire other IT executives to take a new and fresh look at the legislative burdens, hearsay is not a good best practice to run enterprises. For the healthcare industry this should act as both an inflection point and a wake up call. We will be watching. 

2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 (C) Holger Mueller - All Rights Reserved

Will Digital Driver licenses make driving without a mobile an offence?

Founder, capioIT
calitolIT

Phil is the founder of capioIT, a research analyst firm focussed on driving change in the analyst and research market through innovation and collaboration, with a strong focus on IT services and BPO strategies in the Asia/Pacific region. He has 17 years' experience in corporate strategy, consulting and market intelligence, gained in a diverse range of organisations and industries. Prior to founding capioIT, he established the Australian and Services business units at Springboard Research. Prior to Springboard Research, Phil was responsible for driving analyst firm IDC's research in the services marketplace across the Asia/Pacific region. During his 6 years at IDC, Phil led a large multi-national team of analysts across a range of IT related services with a particular focus on IT…...

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Given my job of watching, advising and progressing digital transformation, a technology savvy wife, and three digital native to the core children aged 10-13 it is no surprise that the impacts, both foreseen and unforeseen, of digital are a regular discussion point at the dinner table in our house, (a device free dinner table, I might add).

Tonight the discussion centered on the impact of the digitization of driver licenses, and other related identification forms. New South Wales, and Australia for that matter, has been way to slow at a commercial and government level for digital, but it is changing in an accelerated fashion due to increasingly strong leadership particularly from new Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

On Nov. 24^th, 2015, after months of speculation and discussion the NSW government announced that digital licensing for fishing and responsible service of alcohol will commence in 2016, with driver licenses to follow in 2018.

Clearly the technology is so close, yet so far away from reality.

The deep and complicated levels of security, intergovernmental legislation and cooperation that will be required to ensure the program works in a secure fashion are still far from consideration, let alone being settled. Will all Australian states accept digital licensing? Will it be accepted as a valid form of identification overseas, for example when renting a car or checking into a hotel?

One of the great discussion points that arose today from the Sydney Morning Herald was the possibility that drivers could be fined for not having their mobile charged. https://t.co/6gjZsRdy6Q – whilst Service NSW informed the SMH that drivers would not be charged for failure to produce a driver license with a flat mobile, it is clear that if the digital license is the default then a flat or lost phone will be a critical potential issue. Driving without a mobile could well be an offence in some jurisdictions let alone make any transaction virtually impossible as physical money dies a slow death.

It is also worth noting the issue of digital equity at this point. There can be no mandate to go digital to reflect that whilst the majority of Australian residents are able to enjoy premium personal technology, not everyone is. For government the digital solution cannot be the only solution.

Hopefully this type of transformational, but predictable outcome of digital integration can convince Apple in particular to improve the battery life of the iPhone by 2018.

Each day there is examples of the benefits of digital transformation for local and global communities. These are typically of significant benefit, but just as a flat mobile will challenge the ability to present identification to authorities, the downsides of digital need to be explored through trial deployments and clear thinking of the unknown outcomes as well as the known outcomes.

If you require further information, please contact Phil Hassey, Founder capioIT. capioIT is an advisory firm focused on helping organisations to understand emerging technology as the world becomes Digital. Phil may be contacted easily in the digital and real world.

How to Avoid Busy Brain

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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There is no doubt that we all feel overwhelmed from time to time. It’s natural. But a few years ago I noticed that the pace of change had markedly accelerated to the point where it was changing other things. It was changing our capacity to create and innovate. It was crippling our ability to effectively “spend time” with people that we care about. And it was skewing our sense of entitlement and investment.

What we all seemed to be suffering from as the state of “busy brain”.

Think, for example, how many times you have done the following in the last week:

• Shared a link without checking it first
• Stayed awake too late at night doing work
• Relied on alcohol or drugs to slow your body rhythms
• Avoided exercise because there is not enough time in the day
• Were impatient with a child or a colleague

Because we are consistently rushing from meeting to meeting, task to task and tweet to tweet, we forget.

We forget the reason. The purpose. The force of the activity that drives us.

And we do so because we have given over to busyness rather than focusing on business. Sometimes it seems that we are barely in the business of living.

We are not just distracted but alerted. Buzzed and connected. We hurry between places, spaces and events not because we fear missing out but because our presence is marked on a hidden scale of check-ins, appointments and leaderboards. We have given over to the machine and it keeps its own counsel.

So what are we to do?

I like these simple suggestions from Deepak Chopra. And like everything simple, they require us to forego complication. Here’s to a less busy brain. Sleep well.