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You know what it’s like when inspiration hits … an idea galvanises in your mind like a bolt of electricity, sending your pulse racing. And the more you think on it, the more you feel your nerve fibres tingling.But what happens when you tell someone about your idea? Your mouth dries. The words tumble out one on top of the other … you get tongue tied, excited and afraid. What happens if someone steals your brilliance? What if your idea is no good?...
Analyst Blog
Many posts and articles have been written on how the HR function is somehow at a disconnect with the rest of the business. A perennial leitmotiv has been the question on how HR affects the business in a positive way - versus just trying to avoid that managers or the company do not get sued. So it all comes back to creating more value out of the HR function for the rest of the enterprise.
Analyst Blog
Anyone interested in human behaviour knows how difficult it can be to change a personal habit. But trying to change habits within a culture add layers of complexity that can boggle the mind.Which is why this latest move from Twitter has me intrigued.
Analyst Blog
One of the presentations I look most forward to on a yearly level are KPCB's Mary Meeker's 'State of the Internet' presentations. These days she releases them as the 1st speaker of the AllThingsD conference - and thankfully they are available on slideshare immediately afterwards. Somehow Mary manages to always have some interesting trends up the sleeve, that at least I have not seen at all seen or not seen with that relevance... so why not check out what this year's presentation held for the enterprise?
Analyst Blog
One of the amazing things about the web is that we are constantly in a state of renewal. We read, consume, engage and move on. Great ideas, applications, innovations – and even people – come into our sphere of attention and leave. Sometimes without a trace. Or sometimes with only a line or two in our memory. A feeling. A sense of pride or loss.I remember watching Carnegie Mellon University professor, Randy Pausch deliver his “last lecture...
Analyst Blog
Constellation Sees An Alarming Increase In Inquiries
Constellation has received an alarming increase in inquiries about an unethical vendor sales practice coined as “trolling for indirect access”. Indirect access is when a vendor claims that a client is accessing their perpetually licensed software in an unintentional manner or inappropriately licensed manner. One vendor uses a definition of, “any individual or machine that accesses the computing capabilities of the software must be a licensed user”. Another vendor sees it as “any time a system is accessed by a non-vendor system, a license is required to access that data”
In fact, a rash of inquiries over the past two quarters has raised the alarm bells among software customers.
Analyst Blog
It is important to understand what WebRTC can do for you, but it is equally important to understand what WebRTC may do to you.IntroductionWebRTC is an emerging standard that enables real-time voice, video and data sharing in a Web browser without the need for browser plugins. Potentially billions of devices supporting a browser--PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and a host of new devices--from a variety of manufacturers will be real-time communications-enabled. Whereas browsers have typically interacted only with one or more Web servers, WebRTC allows browsers to exchange media and data with one another directly and in a secure manner.
Analyst Blog
Hard Times And Good Will Drive The Disownership Movement
From car sharing in the late 1990′s, to vacation rentals, to collaborative financing, the sharing economy has been inching it’s way into the forefront of the consumer’s minds. Since the late 2000′s, thought leaders such as Rachel Botsman, Lisa Ganksy, Anne-Sophie Novel, have been chronicling the forces, underlying trends, and players behind the movement. During the past five years, several poster children have emerged including AirBnB, DogVacay, Fon, GetAround, LendingClub, Liquid (Spin Lister), Lyft, Neighborgoods, Poshmark, Relay Rides, SideCar, Task Rabbit, Zaarly, and ZipCar.
Analyst Blog
If there is one thing I love, its when people are publicly honest. Or self-deprecatingly honest. Or self-deprecatingly honest in public. But I love this even more when the person at the centre of the confession is famous. Or hyper-famous, like Lindsay Lohan.
So, imagine that you are the brand manager for eHarmony, the dating site, and you notice that your social media mentions are going through the roof. What could it be? A crisis? A catastrophe? Another cat picture?
Maybe it’s a parody by Funny or Die. Featuring Lindsay Lohan.
Analyst Blog
SuccessConnect – Where Talent and Social Collide at the SuccessFactors Conference
Analyst Blog
I am always going to love an Elvis quote. We don’t see enough of it in the world of business. And we should. After all, he was “The King”.
So this quick guide to unhackable passwords from McAfee and Intel caught my attention straight away.
Analyst Blog
Today we presented the webinar "Ten Things CIOs NEED to Know About WebRTC". Here are a few highlights from the event:...
Also available are the webinar recording and presentation deck
Analyst Blog
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