iWin.com Selects Parature Customer Service Software
Parature, a provider of on-demand customer service software, announced that iWin.com has selected Parature Customer Service software to efficiently manage their customer service and support. iWin, Inc., an online developer, publisher and distributor of casual games for the mass market, is visited by 6 million casual gamers every month. Parature for Gaming's implementation has enabled a 24/7 self-service portal, an increase in call/contact deflection, a twenty percent reduction in support staff, and improved 'time per incident'.

Autonomy to Power Largest Spanish Newspaper's Site
Autonomy Corporation plc, a provider of infrastructure software for the enterprise, announced that 20 Minutos, the highest circulating Spanish newspaper reaching an audience of 2.5 million readers daily, has selected Autonomy's meaning-based technology to power its public facing website and index up to 2.2 million documents. Autonomy's core infrastructure software, the Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL), can derive meaning from content from over 1,000 data types and virtually all languages thus overcoming traditional barriers to data retrieval and allowing cross-referencing across languages, geographical locations and data type.

SupportIndustry.com White Paper: Best Practices for Coaching Your Support Team to Handle Anything
This white paper provides a step-by-step game plan for solving your support agents' worst nightmares, based on the author's experience in successfully "turning around" support performance, as well as current research in the psychology of how we communicate with people. In the process, you will learn how specific, procedural skills -- both for how your agents respond to customers, and how you coach your team -- can change everything about how your interact with customers, in a way that will impact both your support metrics and your bottom line.

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IDC Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending Growth of 0.5% in 2009
The continued erosion of the global economy, including the prospect of negative GDP growth in many major countries, has led IDC to update its forecast for worldwide IT spending in 2009. The IDC Black Book now forecasts worldwide IT spending will grow by just 0.5% year over year in 2009 in constant currency, down from a November 2008 forecast of 2.6% growth. If recent exchange rate trends continue, this will translate into a significant decline in revenues for U.S.-based IT suppliers.

The greatest impact will be felt in global hardware markets, where overall spending growth will be -- 3.6% this year, led by a steep decline in outlays for servers, PCs, and printers/MFPs. In contrast, worldwide spending on software and IT services are each expected to grow 3.4% in 2009, down from 4.6% and 3.7% growth respectively in the previous forecast. Worldwide IT spending in 2009 will be $1.44 trillion.

In the United States, IDC is now forecasting year-over-year growth of 0.1% in overall IT spending, down from the November forecast of 0.9% growth. Paralleling the worldwide market, hardware will experience a sharp decline in spending with -- 16% growth while software and IT services spending will grow by 4% and 3% respectively. U.S. IT spending will total nearly $491 billion in 2009.

Other highlights from the new IDC Black Book include the following:

• Overall IT spending in Western Europe is now expected to grow 0.1% year over year in 2009, down from the November forecast of 1.2% growth. IDC expects IT spending in Germany and the United Kingdom to remain essentially flat in 2009, while France and Italy will experience negative growth.

• The forecast for IT spending growth in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) has also been reduced, with overall growth now expected to be 1.4%, down from the earlier forecast of 4% growth. IT spending in China is expected to grow 6.5%, down from 9.1%, and India's growth has been reduced to 5.7% from 10%.

• Japan will experience year-over-year IT spending growth of –1.8% in 2009, down from the previous forecast of 1.0% growth.

• Latin America will enjoy gains in all three market segments, driving overall IT spending to 4% growth in 2009, down from the November forecast of 8%. IT spending in Brazil will grow by 6% in 2009, down somewhat from the 9% forecast in November.

• In Central and Eastern Europe, IT spending will grow -- 7.5% in 2009 as a result of worsening economic assumptions and business climate volatility.

• The Middle East & Africa is expected to continue on a growth trajectory of almost 8% in 2009, down slightly from the November forecast of 8.5% growth.

More...

Tech Support Salary Survey Shows "Selective Gains"
Despite recessionary pressures, salaries for senior tech support staff and managers rose modestly during 2008, according to the latest annual salary survey conducted by the Association of Support Professionals (ASP). But the gains were largely limited to senior support employees and managers, the report noted. Entry- level tech support and customer service reps saw no overall gain in pay during the year.

The ASP's fourteenth annual Technical Support Salary Survey, which reflects compensation data supplied by 125 participating support organizations, also reveals that a majority of all support employees now work for large, enterprise-oriented software companies whose pay levels have become a de facto industry standard.

These "selective gains" in support pay probably reflect the growing shift from free to fee-based support, says ASP executive director Jeffrey Tarter. "When customers pay for support and related services, they insist on more technical skill and domain expertise than they did when support was free," he says. "And when customers put more value on experience, it's not surprising that employees with experience will see their pay move up at a faster rate."

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Worldwide Vertical Market IT Spending Will Be Flat in 2009
Worldwide vertical market IT spending is projected to total $2.7 trillion in 2009, a 0.5 percent increase from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Utilities, Healthcare and Government are expected to be the strongest-growing segments of the market in 2009.

The utilities industry is forecast to grow the most in 2009 with 2.9 percent growth. Smart grids and energy supplies are viewed as national and strategic issues in many countries, and spending on IT is a necessity. The healthcare industry is expected to post the second-highest increase in 2009 with 2.2 percent growth.

Uncertainty about the depth and duration of the economic slowdown dominated the banking and investment sector in the last quarter of 2008. This uncertainty led to declines and postponements in IT spending at many large financial services companies, and this is expected to continue in 2009 as worldwide financial services IT spending is forecast to decline 0.7 percent. The U.S. financial services sector is forecast to be hardest hit, however, major IT investments in less-affected countries such as Canada and Mexico and regions such as the Middle East and Africa will minimize the decline in the sector worldwide.

Vertical-market IT spending in the United States in 2009 is projected to grow 0.1 percent. Healthcare is expected to be the strongest performer in 2009 with 2.6 percent growth. Financial services is projected to be the weakest with a 2.2 percent decline from 2008 spending. Spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2009 is expected to decline 0.3 percent with utilities showing the strongest growth and services posting the weakest.

Latin America and Asia/Pacific vertical market IT spending are forecast to grow 4.4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Latin America's growth is spurred by continued IT expansion in Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile, while in Asia/Pacific, countries such as India and China will continue to spend on third-generation and next-generation infrastructures. Japan will continue to struggle in 2009 with IT spending forecast to decline 0.1 percent.

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IT Budget & Staffing Survey Shows Bleak Year Ahead for CIOs, IT Staffs
CIO's latest survey on IT budgets and staffing paints a bleak picture for the year ahead.

The number of CIOs planning budget decreases continues to rise dramatically, according to 208 IT executives surveyed in January, 2009. More than half of IT heads (53 percent) now plan to slash budgets in response to unfavorable economic conditions, up from 40 percent in a similar survey conducted in October and 17 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Fifty-nine percent of CIOs are implementing IT hiring freezes, up from 46 percent in October and more than one third (34 percent) have begun reducing IT headcount, up from 23 percent 3 months ago.

More CIOs plan cuts to IT compensation costs; 35 percent of CIOs plan a decrease in the coming year, up sharply from the 18 percent reported in October.

Nearly a third of CIOs (31 percent) say they plan to reduce their full-time, in-house staff; an increase from 21 percent in October and 14 percent in the first quarter of 2008 while close to half (48 percent) plan to reduce spending for contractors and temporary workers, up from 26 percent 3 months ago.

More than two-thirds of CIOs (68 percent) say current economic conditions are causing purchasing decisions to undergo closer scrutiny by other business executives in their company.

With IT increasingly under the microscope, cost cutting is a priority for many CIOs. Almost half report that the percentage of their total IT budget allocated to new projects will decrease and 49 percent have already begun freezing or canceling IT capital spending.

CIOs most frequently cite travel restrictions, hiring freezes and holding off on discretionary IT projects as cost cutting measures they have already begun implementing.

The percentage of CIOs slashing their training budgets increased sharply to 46 percent, from 25 percent 3 months ago. With cost cutting top of mind, some CIOs are looking for alternative IT models; 38 percent of CIOs say they are more likely to consider on-demand services and SaaS as a result of the unfavorable economic condition.

More...

Contact Centers in the Web 2.0 World
The front line for a customer's experience is the contact center. As new forms of social technology and communication alter the business landscape and new technologies influence how customer service is delivered, enterprises have an opportunity to innovate and to meet the changing demands and expectations of the customer base.
Full Article...

Think before you fire: The cost of replacing IT talent
There's currently a certain sense of deja-vu within the IT community, as companies look at shaving even more cost out of a function that has been battered since the 2001 dot-com bust. However, when we look at the lessons of the past, you do have to question companies which decide to sharpen their knives once more when they address their IT costs. Companies need to offset the cost of every layoff with the cost of replacing that talent when the economy improves. It is not so much who is left standing, but rather who is in position to grasp the brass ring of prosperity when it returns.
Full Article...

Becoming an IT Consultant: Do's, Don'ts and Disasters to Avoid
As companies continue to cut costs, consolidate staffs and eviscerate executive salaries, more and more senior-level IT professionals are eyeing corporate exits--or being shown them against their will. For many such tech execs, the next step on the increasingly rocky, do-it-yourself 21st-century career path is independent consulting. But do you have what it takes, or even know what it takes, to strike out on your own?
Full Article...

Seven Trends Driving Contact Center Innovation
The last recession gave contact center managers an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to do more than handle customer inquiries, resolve problems and take orders. When empowered, many contact centers proved adept at retaining customers and generating incremental revenue. And, while the recession is a top concern for customers and executives, innovation and change continues. This article presents the main trends driving change in contact center and service organizations.
Full Article...

Extending the call center through unified communications
Unified communications, and the vendors that sell the technology, are making big promises about transforming the call center -- into a place where calls are resolved the first time, where customers are satisfied, and where costs go down and profits go up. Yet truly deploying unified communications in the call center, in a way that extends customer service into the broader enterprise, requires a transformation not just for the call center but for the business as a whole.
Full Article...

CIO Best Practices: Enabling Strategic Value with Information Technology
by Joe Stenzel

Are you a seasoned information technology (IT) executive looking for options available on leadership structures within your IT organization? Look no further. Now in a Second Edition, CIO Best Practices is an invaluable resource that provides a comprehensive, practical guide for CIOs and their executive team peers giving real-world examples of CIOs who have succeeded in mastering the blend of business and technology responsibilities and giving their companies a sound return on investment of technology dollars.

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SupportIndustry.com Research Results --The Distributed Workplace: The Challenges of Support

To determine the specific challenges IT service desks face in supporting distributed and mobile workforces, Supportindustry.com conducted a survey in November 2008 targeting support executives. The survey, sponsored by SupportSoft Inc., was designed to explore the increasing pressures faced by support organizations as they attempt to serve employees operating outside traditional, centralized work environments. It examines technologies and processes organizations have put in place to provide remote support, and the kinds of IT problems remote and mobile workers are experiencing.

Get the full survey results today!

Visit the SupportIndustry.com Blog
The SupportIndustry.com Blog is another way stay on top of the service and support industry. Our blog, updated at least once a week, is dedicated to covering the latest topics related to service and support, call center management, customer experience management, web-based support, help desks, workforce optimization and more.
Check it out today

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