Telrex Releases CallRex Agent Evaluation Version 3.9
Telrex, provider of the CallRex suite of IP call recording and call center optimization solutions, announced the release of CallRex Agent Evaluation version 3.9. An easy-to-use, web-based quality monitoring solution, CallRex Agent Evaluation enables managers to implement customized performance scorecards and provide objective feedback on employee phone calls. CallRex Agent Evaluation features integrated user administration, flexible evaluations, and built-in reports to monitor performance trends. CallRex Agent Evaluation leverages a single administration point and database with CallRex Call Recording, streamlining user administration and reducing the storage space required.

Cicero Inc. Announces New Product Offerings
Cicero Inc., a provider of desktop automation and integration solutions, announced it is launching three new products, collectively called Cicero XM. The new Cicero XM technology helps companies transform their customer interactions by simplifying workflow, automating tasks, providing context-sensitive scripting and automatically sharing data between applications, while leveraging existing IT investments. Cicero XM, short for Cicero Experience Management, includes three new products: Cicero XM Desktop; Cicero XM Enterprise; and Cicero XM Studio.

Rok Selects ClickSoftware for Optimized Mobile Workforce Management
ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd., a provider of workforce management and service optimization solutions, announced that Rok, a provider of building, repairs and refurbishment, and maintenance services, has selected its ServiceOptimization Suite. Rok will use ClickSoftware's workforce management suite initially to carry out repair and maintenance work for the insurance sector, the general public, commercial property owners and housing associations. It will ensure technicians arrive on time, with the right skills and materials to get the job done first time.

How Smart is Your Smartphone Support?
The IT team at NuStar Energy has discovered a must-have tool for supporting widespread mobile users. They now provide smartphone support and training remotely, reducing travel time and increasing first-call resolution and user satisfaction.

With LogMeIn Rescue's premium smartphone support capabilities, IT teams can remotely support BlackBerry, WindowsMobile and Symbian OS devices -- plus PCs and Macs -- with one multi-platform tool. It's an easy, secure way to remote control devices -- without pre-installing software.

Get the case study and your free trial here.

Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 3% in 2010
Worldwide spending on information technologies will continue to feel the effects of the global recession throughout 2010. According to a new forecast from IDC, worldwide IT spending will increase by just 3% in 2010 at constant currency. In the United States, IT spending is forecast to increase by less than 3%.

Overall, IDC forecasts that worldwide IT spending will reach $1.48 trillion in 2010, still below the $1.5 trillion recorded in 2008. IDC's forecast of 3% growth in worldwide IT spending is at constant currency, and does not assume future fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar or other international currencies over the next 12 months. If the U.S. dollar weakens in 2010, the actual recorded growth of IT spending in US$ may be significantly higher. Measured in U.S. dollars, worldwide IT spending declined by 8% in 2009 due to the stronger value of the dollar compared to 2008.

On a global basis, IDC expects hardware spending to grow by 5% in 2010, while software spending and IT services spending will grow by 2% and 3%, respectively, in constant currency. In the hardware segment, worldwide PC spending is forecast to increase by 3% this year, up from the previous forecast of 2% growth, while the forecast for servers, storage, hardcopy peripherals, and network equipment have also been raised. The outlook for software and services spending reflects the lower value of contracts signed in the past year and continued caution toward new project-based spending in mature economies.

Regional highlights from IDC's new forecast include the following:

-- Asia/Pacific: Overall, the region will experience 6% growth in IT spending in constant currency, following a 1% decline in 2009. However, China and India are both expected to experience double-digit growth (11.5% and 13.5%, respectively) this year. Hardware spending will experience solid gains this year, driven by pent-up demand and new infrastructure deployment. Following a decline of 8% last year, no IT spending growth is forecast for Japan this year.

-- EMEA: Following a worst-ever decline of 7% in 2009 at constant currency, IT spending in Western Europe is forecast to be effectively flat in 2010. A few market segments are expected to return to positive growth, but the market sentiment across the region remains weak. In Central and Eastern Europe, the 20% spending crash of 2009 will be followed by 9% growth in 2010. IT spending in the Middle East and Africa will also return to growth this year (12% at constant currency) after a 2.5% decline last year.

-- Latin America: IT spending in Latin America will be up by 5% this year. Overall spending will gradually accelerate in line with the recovery in business and consumer confidence. Increasing market maturity in some sectors will contribute to price competition as some buyers gravitate towards low-cost solutions. The key market of Brazil will return to a more robust level of growth by 2011.

-- North America: The gradual economic recovery will enable many U.S. organizations to relieve some of the pent-up demand for system and network upgrades following last year's spending

More...

Study Finds Globalization and New Technologies Driving Companies to Seek New Business Models to Increase Efficiency, Competitiveness, Agility and Growth
A combination of intensified globalization brought on by recent turbulence in the global economy and the acceleration of new information technologies is driving companies and governments to look for new business models to meet increased demands for efficiency, competitiveness, short-term agility and long-term growth.  This is one of the key findings of a study released by Accenture at the World Economic Forum.    
 
According to the study, maturing technologies such as cloud computing, mobile communications and collaborative computing will offer companies the "hidden wiring" required to compete in a multi-polar world, one in which emerging markets are challenging the traditional strengths of more mature economies.
 
When asked which factors will have the most significant impact on their business over the next five years, 41 percent of the executives surveyed said it would be the growth in size and reach of new players in emerging markets, followed by an increase in IT capabilities (35 percent) and slower economic growth in developed markets (27 percent).   Respondents also said that the most significant challenges raised by future developments in information technology would be managing complex networks of suppliers, business partners and customers (37 percent), followed by protecting proprietary information and data (28 percent) and competition for technologically and analytically skilled employees (27 percent).
 
According to the study, economic power shifts between companies and individuals and between national economies are becoming more common, creating greater business complexity with more people to buy from and sell to, as well as more competitors.  At the same time, this complexity is fostering more ways to create economic value.  Accenture has identified six market-shaping interactions that have the ability to create new economic value:
 
--Co-production with customers.  Companies are finding more opportunities to engage with customers and suppliers in such areas as co-producing products and sourcing ideas as a part of the innovation process.

--New bridges between producers and consumers.  Intermediaries are using technology to build new bridges between producers and consumers, helping companies extend the markets they serve, particularly in emerging-market economies.  Nearly sixty percent of business leaders surveyed for the study said that greater consumer connectivity would have a significant or very significant impact on competition in their industries over the next five years.

--New forms of business-to-business (B2B) commerce.  New forms of B2B activity are becoming technologically possible, advancing the promise of "e-markets" first discussed a decade ago. 

--Consumer-to-consumer content. Technology is enabling like-minded consumers to form clusters of cooperative structures that span multiple countries and regions in order to share information, evaluate products and services and conduct purchases.  Accenture's research reveals that 57 percent of executives believe the growing bargaining power of knowledgeable consumers will significantly affect competition in their industries over the next five years.

--Peer-to-peer production. Individuals can form groups that provide products and services to reduce the market power of existing suppliers or to exert greater control over the way a product or service is produced or consumed. 

--Cooperative consumption. The growth of social networking and digitization enables consumers to form clusters that boost their bargaining power.

More...

IT's Greatest Enemies
You might think IT's greatest enemies are cyber criminals and malware authors. But far worse are those who make the lives of these evildoers that much easier. In fact, the greatest enemies of IT are members of the community IT serves: from clueless suits to annoying power users, from miserly managers to those friends and family members who are always hitting you up for free tech support. Any one of them can keep you from doing your best -- or getting anything done at all. Here are the classic enemies of IT, how to recognize them, and what you can do to keep them at bay.
Full Article...

Repairing Broken Teams: Moving Beyond Manufactured Teambuilding
Many managers and executives are placed in difficult positions after having been promoted or transferred to an under-performing department. The intuitive executive understands that, while new leadership is in place, there may be fundamental flaws with the existing group. Because many executives are not fully equipped to diagnose the problem(s) and chart a path forward, they resort to what they do know --"manufactured teambuilding." Such exercises consist of taking a team out of its office environment and engaging in mental and/or physical activities or hiring a consultant to come and present for an afternoon in an effort to promote further unification of the group. Fortunately, there is a more substantive way to assist a team improve its performance. Outlined in this article is a seven-step process that can properly align a team of any size or shape so as to establish a foundation for success.
Full Article...

Quantifying the Impact of Contact Center Schedule Adherence
It's just a few minutes a day for a few agents in your call center. What's the big deal? Can you quantify the impact that a lack of schedule adherence has on your call center? Here are a few approaches for putting some numbers to your schedule adherence or lack of it.
Full Article...

Service delivery -- the value proposition
How can IT 'sell' an operating budget in a way that makes the accountants accept it?  The start point for this exercise is to be able to articulate the value that the service delivery function actually provides. Techniques are available that can be used by astute managers to help both themselves and their financial colleagues understand the value of what they do for a living.
Full Article...

IT Contract Negotiation: Five Steps to Success
Do you find yourself getting into "fire-fighting" mode when deals need to be finalized? Forrester has found it's not uncommon for sourcing professionals to have contracts thrust upon them by impatient business or IT users that "must get signed in the next two days" or similar situations. This article presents a five part strategy for a better negotiation on your next IT purchase.
Full Article...

Is One More Gadget Just Too Many?
Lots of people have conflicted views about their assortment of electronic gadgets. On the one hand, they can be expensive and time-consuming. On the other hand, they help people navigate their social and information worlds and can make life easier or more exciting. And it's the excitement that takes over when a cool new toy emerges.
Full Article...

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
by Daniel H. Pink

Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people--at work, at school, at home. It's wrong. As Daniel H. Pink explains in his new book, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does--and how that affects every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates that while the old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th century, it's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges.

Click here for more information on this book.

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2009 Service & Support Metrics Survey: The Results
This annual Supportindustry.com survey explores the state of enterprise service and support -- technology adoption rates and deployment plans, financial challenges, workforce issues, performance metrics and other industry trends. The results reinforce previous years' findings, highlighting support organizations' continued adoption of better-integrated and responsive technologies, efforts to improve processes, and growing recognition of the strategic role of service delivery in corporate growth. Key metrics to benchmark your support operation were also captured and discussed.
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