| [View Past Issues] | April 26, 2011 |
Featured Link
Analyst/Bytes & Statistics
In Other News
Required Reading
Our News
About Us
Measuring Smart: Incorporating Social Media into Your Traditional Service Metric Mix
Thursday, June 23 - 10 AM (PDT) / 1 PM (EDT)
The era of social media has officially begun, fundamentally transforming customer service. Your customer contacts are becoming increasingly public, visible and judged by a viral swarm of consumers.
Join this webinar with industry expert Rich Gallagher as he explores the impact of social media and how service must evolve from a focus on transactions to a focus on relationships. Rich will also consider the new generation of metrics you need to ensure excellent service.
Attend this live, interactive webinar to learn:
- Why service is different in the social media era.
- Old metrics that can help and hurt you.
- Customer engagement and closure quality.
- And more...
Maximizer Software Releases Maximizer CRM Live, Its Cloud-Based Solution
Maximizer Software, a provider of simple, accessible customer relationship management (CRM) and mobile CRM solutions, announced it has expanded its CRM offering with a powerful new cloud-based CRM solution -- Maximizer CRM Live. Available through an affordable, web-based monthly subscription model, Maximizer CRM Live provides organizations with a proven, full-featured CRM solution, designed to drive more sales, improve marketing effectiveness, and enrich customer service interactions.
Hornbill Enables the 'Proactive Service Desk' with New Twitter Integration and Smartphone-Based Support
Hornbill Service Management launched Supportworks ITSM Enterprise v.3.2, a new solution that integrates both Twitter and smartphone-based support with the service desk. IT departments can now improve service delivery by proactively identifying and responding to service issues that often fail to surface in traditional communication channels. Supportworks ITSM Enterprise v.3.2 combines these new capabilities with a range of ITIL-compatible enhancements that continue to support the IT Service Management journey, from help desk to ITSM maturity.
Enkata and CallMiner Announce Partnership
CallMiner Inc., a provider of speech analytics, and Enkata, a provider of cloud-based workforce analytics software, announced an agreement to jointly bring to market a workforce optimization solution that extends Enkata's Workforce Analytics Suite to include CallMiner's Eureka 7.2 speech analytics. The combined performance management solution will provide global service operations with tools to improve the customer experience, reduce operating costs and successfully drive their strategic initiatives.
2011 Trends in Web-Driven Service and Support
Not so long ago, service and support vendors and practitioners could discuss their industry and mention the Internet in passing -- a novelty that might someday hold promise as a platform for their customer-facing applications. Today, the industry is at a point where it can nearly remove references to the web altogether when talking about the latest shocking service slight, clever customer comeback, hot or cool technology, application platform, or snarky tech community, because it's almost a given that's where the action's taking place.
And a lot of action there is. This white paper reveals the latest trends in web-driven service and support delivery in 2011.
New InformationWeek Analytics Research Finds 60% of Companies Using Applications in the Cloud
InformationWeek Analytics, a service for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report; SaaS 2011 which explores the state of software as a service, a technology being adopted at unprecedented rates.
SaaS adoption is up 13 points over last year, to 60%, despite lingering concerns about features and functionality. More than one-quarter of survey respondents say the applications they have delivered as services are mission critical, down from 34%. Meanwhile, startups and niche SaaS providers are going up against established vendors like Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.com, giving smaller businesses opportunities to take advantage of the burgeoning technology.
Findings:
- SaaS use among companies surveyed jumped to 60% from 47% last year.
- Speed to implement, capex savings and opex savings are the biggest drivers behind the move to a SaaS model.
- Top reasons 40% of companies don't use SaaS: lack of business requirement, concerns over security and concerns over data ownership.
- SaaS satisfaction levels dipped 11 points, to 74%; still, only 14% say their app services don't meet expectations.
- Twenty-six percent of respondents rate their SaaS-delivered apps "mission-critical," down from 34% a year ago; they rate 61% "important," vs. 51% last year.
- CRM (44%), Web presence (38%) and email (35%) are the most common SaaS apps, followed closely by HR/recruiting (33%) and sales (32%).
- Microsoft (34%, up 8 points), Salesforce.com (30%, down 11 points) and Google (26%, down 2 points) still garner the bulk of the market, but ADP (18%, up 15 points), IBM (16%, up 14 points) and EMC (15%, up 7 points) have gained ground, and smaller companies abound. Oracle dropped 11 points, to 15%.
- The split between companies using customized SaaS apps and those using standard SaaS apps: 50/50.
Survey: Companies Shifting From Recovery to Growth, but Domestic Hiring Will Likely Continue to Lag
Chief financial officers are markedly shifting their focus from cost cutting to revenue growth, but they remain wary of increased hiring at home, according to the results of the Deloitte CFO Signals quarterly survey for the first quarter of 2011. Specifically, the CFOs surveyed said nearly half of their companies' strategic focus is on revenue growth -- substantially ahead of their 30 percent focus on cost reduction.
Overall, optimism among CFOs rebounded during the quarter with 62 percent of respondents indicating a more positive outlook regarding their companies' projects, up from 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Furthermore, CFOs are upbeat about performance, projecting average year-over-year gains of 8.2 percent for sales (compared to 6.5 percent last quarter), 12.6 percent for earnings (compared to 12 percent in the fourth quarter 2010), and 11.8 percent for capital spending (compared to 8.7 percent last quarter). The projections for both revenues and earnings, however, are substantially lower than estimates from the second and third quarters of 2010 -- possibly indicating that many of the strongest recovery gains have already been achieved.
The obstacles to growth that CFOs cite are mainly external. Survey results revealed that 52 percent of respondents view regulation as their industry's top concern.
The Deloitte CFO Signals quarterly survey also revealed the following results (estimates are adjusted averages to reduce the effect of outliers):
- Only 16 percent of CFOs are less optimistic than they were the previous quarter -- the lowest level recorded in the four quarters of the Deloitte survey.
- CFOs expect significant changes in their sources of growth over the next year as compared to the period prior to the financial crisis and recession. Almost three quarters (73 percent) of CFOs expect increased revenue from new products and services, and 68 percent expect foreign markets to generate more revenue.
- More than half of CFOs (56 percent) expect their companies' prices to increase over the next year than prior to the recession, driven in part by expectations of rising commodity prices. More than 80 percent of CFOs expect commodity price increases over the next year.
- Revenue growth from existing markets is the most prevalent company challenge, cited by more than half of CFOs (55 percent) as a top three concern. One-third of CFOs cite revenue growth from new markets as a top challenge, and another third cite framing and/or adapting strategy.
- CFOs are very concerned about government's impact on their growth plans, particularly tax policies (especially around the tax code and the repatriation of earnings) and health care reform, which they view as unnecessarily burdensome.
The 10 Things Tech Company CEOs Should Know Right Now
CEOs get the weight of the whole company on their shoulders. Although everyone speaks of team effort, it is the CEO's face that is the company's face, and, more important, it is the CEO's brain that leads company strategy. This article provides 10 basic recommendations to CEOs that might help them get from the golf course to the boardroom without being hit by pies, eggs or shareholder suits.
Full Article...
Why You Don't Need a Cloud Computing Strategy
To get it right the first time, rather than looking at the cloud as a separate replacement strategy, companies need to look at it from the bigger picture as a complete IT strategy. This article presents five key things to think about when identifying areas for cloud adoption and driving a successful IT strategy.
Full Article...
It's Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works
Managers who inundate their teams with the same messages, over and over, via multiple media, need not feel bad about their persistence. In fact, this redundant communication works to get projects completed quickly, according to new research by Harvard Business School.
Full Article...
Building a Better IVR: Some Tips for Success
The IVR is an integral part of any call center. Customers can call the center and get what they need without ever talking to a human, allowing agents greater availability to handle the more pressing calls. Yet despite their obvious advantages, most IVR systems aren't perfect and can benefit from some improvements.
Full Article...
Workforce Analytics Optimizes Human Capital
Traditionally, workforce-related decisions have been subjective and involved little involvement from IT. The lack of easy access to data combined with the dearth of in-house analytical resources become a barrier to more objective decision-making in workforce planning and management. With more organizations feeling the increasing need to quantify workforce costs and benefits and integrate workforce initiatives into their overall financial planning process, many organizations are paying increased attention to this type of analytics work. The ultimate objective is to sync human capital strategy with business strategy.
Full Article...
The Critical Thinking Toolkit: Spark Your Team's Creativity with 35 Problem Solving Activities
by Marlene Caroselli
"The Critical Thinking Tool Kit" aims to rekindle the creativity buried inside everyone. The book's 35 hands on activities and ready-to-use assessments are designed to improve creative and analytical thinking skills. Team members work on producing divergent ideas, and then fine tune their skills to pinpoint the ones that best benefit an organization. And they'll learn to do it in real-life speed quickly! The training exercises in "The Critical Thinking Tool Kit" offer an invigorating departure from the routine with the potential for big payoffs in the form of enhanced 'on-your-feet' thinking, innovative problemsolving, and profitable idea generation from everyone on the team.
Follow SupportIndustry.com on Twitter
Check us out and follow us for regular updates on the service and support industry!
http://www.twitter.com/supportindustry
SupportIndustry.com is Now Mobile!
Get the latest service and support news on your mobile device! Our mobile site is ready for you to visit via your favorite mobile device, or you can view it on your personal computer. Our mobile site is optimized to run with Windows Mobile software.
Check out http://www.supportindustry.com/mobile today!
Free Research on the Service and Support Industry
Are you looking for the latest research available (for free!) on the service and support industry? Then check out the research section of SupportIndustry.com. Some of the current offerings available to members are:
- 2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey Result
- Research Insight: Self-Service Support
- Research Insight: Average Speed to Answer, Wait Time and Handle Time
- 2010 Service and Leadership Trends in Customer Support
- Research Insight: Effectively Measuring Customer Loyalty
- Research Insight: Cost Per Contact (Phone & E-Mail)
- Research Insight: First Contact Resolution
All of these reports can be accessed by clicking here...
2011 Service and Support Technology Showcase Now Available
SupportIndustry.com has released the 2011 version of our Service & Support Technology Showcase. This in-depth buyer's guide features the latest tools and technologies in the support services industry that enable support operations to deliver superior customer service. To view the listings, click here: http://www.supportindustry.com/vendorshowcase/index.htm
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
Log-on to the member's only page and you can to change newsletter formats, remove yourself from the list, or update your member profile.
Editorial suggestions, feedback & comments:
Carolyn Healey, Editor - chealey@supportindustry.com
Advertising Information:
adinfo@supportindustry.com
Thank you for reading SupportIndustry.com's weekly newsletter!
