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I am a fan of deep thinking. Really I am. And I am a fan of long copy advertising. Documentaries. And books. Those old fashioned paper products that immerse you in other worlds. I love them and collect them and will continue to do so.
Each of these sing to my soul. They ground me in a way that other things cannot. And they tap into my sense of self. My sense of purpose. My reason for being.
But while I love ideas and the way that they can inspire others, what happens when the energy of that moment wanes? What happens when the talk stops and you find yourself alone and unguarded. What then?
That’s when your reason for doing takes over.
Analyst Blog
Quarks
IBM Watson Engagement Advisor Brings Supercomputing Power to Customer Support
IBM Watson Engagement Advisor redefines the delivery of customer service. This new supercomputer processes huge amounts of data and “understands” it with astounding speed. Watson provides an opportunity for companies to transform how they deliver support to customers. It may finally be the breakthrough application that supercharges the adoption of self-service. While not every customer service organization may need such powerful computing, the potential breakthroughs are unlimited and deserve a closer look.
On May 20th Flickr announced their new design as well as new account plans and storage options. As a long time Flickr Pro user, there are a few things I wanted to understand before making a decision about how I'll use Flickr in the future. Since I was finding it difficult to understand the changes, I created the following spreadsheet and asked the world to help me fill it in. (go crowd-sourcing!)
I had always used a Pro account because of the need for more than 300MB of storage, but now with a 1 TB available in the free account I (along with almost everyone I've heard from) will most likely switch to the new free account. Yes, there will be ads, but I live with them in Gmail, Facebook and other free services. What I don't like is that it appears the detailed analytics will be going away. I enjoyed being able to see which of my photos, sets and collections were being viewed, liked and commented on.
Analyst Blog
If NetSuite is going to continue its growth, reported at 28% last year in its core business, it really has no choice but to pursue manufacturing customers. Manufacturers are the largest market for ERP systems and therefore an attractive target for NetSuite's development efforts. Although manufacturers have been slower to embrace cloud computing than many other sectors have, the situation is rapidly changing. Manufacturing companies are increasingly open to cloud ERP. Sometimes, in fact, they only want to look at cloud solutions. In other words, NetSuite is at the right place at the right time.
Analyst Blog
The case for investing in five emerging technologies for extraordinary customer serviceSAN FRANCISCO CA – May 16, 2013 Constellation Research, Inc. the research and advisory firm focused on disruptive technologies announced today the publication of “Compelling Investments for Extraordinary Service”, by Constellation Vice President and Principal Analyst, Elizabeth Herrell. This report helps customer service organizations identify quantifiable value for deploying emerging technologies and steps to build a business case for justifying new investmentsThis report highlights five key technologies that all customer service organizations should evaluate as these technologies create new revenues, lower service costs, and positively enhance customer experience.
Analyst Blog
The case for investing in five emerging technologies for extraordinary customer serviceSAN FRANCISCO CA – May 16, 2013 Constellation Research, Inc.
Press Release
Event Report: Interactive Intelligence’s recent analyst event provided insight into their successful strategy for contact center cloud solutions. While continuing strong growth in their core premise based Customer Interaction Platform (CIC), its cloud-based solutions achieved impressive growth in new sales orders and have increased from 5% of orders in 2009 to 35% in 2012. During 2013, Interactive Intelligence forecasts 50% of sales orders will come from its cloud-based offering. Interactive Intelligence’s platform offers a comprehensive all-in-one software solution that supports contact center solutions resulting in faster time to market for its customers.
Analyst Blog
It began with an appearance on Gordon Ramsey’s reality TV show, Kitchen Nightmares. As you can see from the footage from the show, the episode did not play well for the owners of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale, Arizona. With each comment on Reddit, Yelp or even BuzzFeed, for every tweet and mention on Facebook, owners Samy and Amy step into the breach to fan the flames of this conversation. They continue to take brand experience to a new level with each and every comment or tweet. Take a look at some of the Facebook comments and conversations captured on the BuzzFeed page by way of example.
Analyst Blog
Premium Research
Smart Customer Service Investments in Emerging Applications Need Cost Justification
Download the report snapshot
This report highlights five key technologies that can create new revenues, lower service costs and provide compelling customer experiences that all customer service organizations should consider. Importantly, these customer service investments demonstrate quantifiable business benefits and provide valuable customer insight. The next-generation customer service technologies to watch and consider for investment include:
The first awards to recognize pioneers, leaders, innovators who use technology to transform businessWe at Constellation Research are pleased to kick off the third annual SuperNova Awards for innovators in disruptive technology. If you have completed a project that produced a disruption within your company or industry we want to hear your story!
Analyst Blog
The proliferation of Web-based devices such as smartphones and tablets, and the social media that they connect us to, has dramatically changed the way we communicate and exchange information. Their effect on interpersonal and brand-consumer communications is well-documented, yet continues to evolve. Nowhere has this change been more dramatic than within the media industry itself. Print publications continue to lose market share to online news sites; paid-content struggles to compete with content aggregators that share this content for free; journalist continue to fight for their place in a world of "me-first" bloggers and social celebrities; and public opinion and satire are often preferred reading over real news programming. For news media, as with any industry, social media is a double-edged sword. It offers journalists tremendous opportunity to gather and disseminate information quickly; however, it can just as easily derail the flow of news with rumor and rhetoric. The Web, and the access it grants to the "people on the street," is a powerful resource for broadcast news providers such as CNN; however, it's also a disruptive force that requires vigilant management.Is social media leading or following the news we report and consume?
Analyst Blog
While attending the 2013 Aastra analyst event in Dallas in early, May I had the good fortune to sit next to Simon Beebe, Vice President of Product Management at Aastra. Among Simon’s responsibilities are all of the communications endpoints Aastra makes, including Aastra’s line of SIP phones and BluStar video devices.
So, it was with interest that I approached Simon on the idea of a WebRTC-based endpoint device. With his knowledge of endpoint design and manufacturing, I wanted to get a sense as to whether he saw any merit in the idea of a future in which some enterprising person or group creates a dedicated WebRTC device.
Clearly, WebRTC is in its early, and some would say “heady”, days. Simon really saw no drivers for creating a WebRTC-based standalone endpoint that could sit on the desktop. The discussion centered around the bill of materials (BOM) required for such a device and the reality that like any communications device, there would be some real manufacturing costs associated with it. In his mind, Simon could see no real need or advantage for a WebRTC-based dedicated device.
Analyst Blog
They say that a week is a long time in politics.That was certainly the case when there was a “daily” news cycle. Any announcements or revelations needed to be revealed in time for stories to be written, edited, photographs to be prepared, processed and newspapers to be printed. Breaking news was the domain of the more instantaneous broadcasters like radio and TV. And even then, only the most explosive news items would break programming.But the web changed all that.
Analyst Blog
It’s a cliché to say that the only constant in life is change. And yet, like all clichés, it reveals a deep truth that we all must grapple with. Business owners and entrepreneurs are well aware of the underlying truth of this cliché – yet are often the most unprepared for the disruption that comes with change.
Analyst Blog
The recent Gartner report “Market Share Analysis: Customer Relationship Management Software, Worldwide, 2012” has generated some controversy among the enterprise software set. The report and other reports such as these, are often used for bragging rights by vendors and for buyers to gauge vendor viability.
This specific report attempts to rank CRM software spending by vendor using total software revenue worldwide. The good news – the numbers are directionally correct with Salesforce.com claiming the top mantle from SAP this year with $2.525 billion in CRM revenue (see Figure 1). The bad news – many question the accuracy of the actual revenues numbers as listed in the press release, especially for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM business.
Analyst Blog
HR leaders on the fence about investing in an analytics platform may now have the justification needed for moving forward, courtesy of the US Federal Government and its impending Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which goes into effect on January 1, 2014. With complex requirements and potentially significant financial consequences, the PPACA will require many employers to move beyond standard tracking and reporting platforms to more advanced, real-time decision support tools to proactively manage the many aspects of this complex legislation.
Analyst Blog
Preliminary speaker list announcedYou’re invited to join the Constellation Research team for Connected Enterprise this October 30 - November 1, 2013 at The Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay, CA. Connected Enterprise is Constellation’s annual innovation-focused executive summit featuring inspiring keynotes, in-depth market maker interviews, best practices customer panels, visionary industry futures, and executive level networking. This year's theme celebrates "Moving Beyond The Art of the Possible"
Analyst Blog
Last year’s acquisition of Dayforce heralded Ceridian’s pivot from a payroll service bureau to an HCM vendor focused on technology and innovation. One year later, Ceridian demonstrates strong customer adoption of its new platform and continued HCM process transformation to enable HR organizations to create a more effective workforce.
Analyst Blog
Case Study
Why the Haley Stuart Group Recruited ShoreTel Sky as Its Cloud Communications Service Provider
In 2004 HSG installed a new PBX in its New Jersey offices. It soon became clear that the annual maintenance contract for this PBX was not only very expensive, but HSG discovered that it did not include any hardware upgrades nor did it include upgrades for software releases containing new functionality.
Find out why Haley Stuart Group chose ShoreTel Sky as its cloud communications provider.
As the size of our social networks grow (meaning we connect with more people) it's important that the tools we use make it simple to interact with the right people at the right time. (context matters!) I've found that some collaboration platforms do this well, while others do not.Here is a good example from Yammer. Notice when I type "@k" it first suggests Kevin Young, he is not the only person in my network who's name starts with K, but he is person I interact with most frequently. The next two suggestions are based on last name's starting with K. Notice...
Analyst Blog
We are excited to announce the launch of our refreshed website with a design built around you.What to expect on the new website today:More media content: webinars, keynote speeches, Connected Enterprise recordingsCurated insight around a Business Problem or RoleUpdated research agendasEnhanced profile features including a “My Files” feature where you can store and reference all content you’ve downloaded from Constellation ResearchDeeper profiles of our Analysts. Our new analyst profiles reveal Big Ideas, published and planned research, blog posts, and events in which they are participating. Please be sure to check out our newSuperNova Awards application - now live ANDInformation about:Connected Enterprise - initial speaker list now available
Analyst Blog
Creativity is hard work. Actually, work, life, everything is hard work.For every 100 good ideas that you put up, you’ll be lucky to see one take root.For every “yes” that you get, there’ll be dozens of “nos”.And for every spark you ignite in others, there’ll be whole audiences of blank faces.Remember, too, it all takes time.
Analyst Blog
The five forces of the Consumerization of Information Technology (CoIT) do not just affect the chief information officer (CIO). The impact of social media, Big Data, analytics, mobility, cloud computing and unified communications will be felt across every business unit and across every enterprise.
However, it is the office of the CMO – the organizational executive responsible for the “front of house” – which will be increasingly exposed to the challenges presented by consumerization. As a result, marketing leaders will face significant new strategic and technology decisions in the next two years.
Marketers need to adopt a long-term view that demotes the campaign-based thinking that has dominated the marketing agenda for decades, replacing it with a focus on relationships, value and customer experience...
Analyst Blog
At the recent Cisco Customer Collaboration Analyst Event, Cisco identified its key initiatives for the coming year and its plans to continue to capture market share with its customer collaboration strategy. It also demonstrated how its continuous improvement in its collaboration product line earned increased market share against contact center competitors. Cisco credits its recent success is in providing its customers with robust end-to-end solutions and its sound financial position, which especially appeals to larger enterprise customers. During the last year It has made significant gains with competitive wins against Avaya and other established contact center solution providers.
Cisco is prioritizing the following four areas for its customer collaboration solution:
Analyst Blog