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HP's Hurd Sees 'Fairly Steady' IT Spending
Chief Executive Mark Hurd said Monday he sees "fairly steady" future technology spending. "Hopefully, it'll be better than what doomsayers predict," he added during a conference call Monday with financial analysts. "But I don't want to be confused with an economist." He added that H-P hasn't seen any "aberrant" behavior because of the ongoing credit crunch. Concerns about a tech slowdown have weighed recently on the entire technology sector, including H-P, which has seen its shares fall more than 6% since setting a seven-year high on Nov. 6. While largely immune from any slowdown in tech spending in the U.S., H-P is an industry bellwether, so its outlook on U.S. spending will nonetheless likely weigh on other technology companies more dependent on U.S. sales. Source: WSJ

Coupons, Inc. Selects LivePerson to Deliver Superior Consumer Experience
Coupons, Inc. a provider of printable coupon marketing and technology solutions, announced it has implemented live chat technology from LivePerson, Inc., a provider of online engagement solutions that facilitate real-time assistance and trusted expert advice, to ensure that consumers have the best possible experience with printable coupons. Coupons, Inc. leverages LivePerson’s technology to deliver real-time, live customer service to help consumers print coupons on offers from the manufacturers of popular national and regional brands.

Delta Hotels Improves Customer Service Productivity With Envision Performance Suite
Envision Telephony, Inc., a global provider of software solutions for the contact center and the enterprise, announced that Delta Hotels, Canada’s first-class hotel management company, has improved customer service, increased sales and enhanced agent productivity since implementing the Envision Performance Suite. The Envision Performance Suite maximizes contact center efficiency and effectiveness through the seamless integration of Envision’s core applications: quality monitoring, eLearning, workforce management and business intelligence.

Delivering Superior IT Service Management is Now Faster than Ever
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Theft of data and confidential information is a greater concern for more firms, especially when it comes to the use of hand-held devices and laptop computers by remote and mobile workers, according to the CompTIA survey.

Sixty percent of the 1,070 organizations surveyed said security issues related to the use of handheld devices for data access and transfer have increased significantly or increased somewhat over the past 12 months.

When it comes to wireless networks, 55 percent of organizations said security issues have increased significantly or somewhat over the past 12 months.

Nearly 80 percent of the organizations allow data access by remote or mobile employees. But just 32 percent of organizations have implemented any security awareness training for these workers; and just 10 percent plans to implement such training in the next 12 months.
More...

The Role of the Chief Operating Officer Is Transforming Radically in Corporate America
The position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) in leading corporations is being transformed -- not eliminated -- according to a report released by The Conference Board, the global research and business membership organization.

The report finds that the need for and the definition of the COO role is determined by the relationship between the COO and CEO, including their personalities, in the context of the needs of the particular business. A risk assessment of the CEO "going it alone" and internal talent management considerations are also used for determination.

Some of those interviewed say that the COO position is evolving from the number two spot in a company to a leadership "on demand" role that changes focus with changing business strategy. The report finds that companies -- to grow more quickly in an increasingly competitive business world -- are becoming flatter, with the CEO now going directly to the heads of lines of the business for answers.

The position of COO, though born sometime in the 19th century, reached its apex in the 1970s, when more and more prominent firms began adding the position to deal with greater management needs spurred on by increasing diversification.

Its popularity dwindled in the '80s, but was revived with the growth of the dot-com era, only to fall with the era's demise. Most recent studies indicate that only a small percentage of leading U.S. companies currently employ a COO.

External considerations that affect the COO role include:

• Strong global, regional, and local competitors.
• The increased power of customers.
• Impatient institutional investors.
• Talented managers who are ambitious and open to opportunities offered by others.
• Global product overcapacity.
• Increased regulatory oversight.
• Relentless pressure to update, or even change, the company's fundamental business model.

The most pressing internal considerations are: the reduction of layers of management and emergence of numerous project-based formats; greater levels of investment in the IT infrastructure, which enable enhanced vertical and horizontal operations and communications processes; and an extensive use of alliances along with robust amounts of mergers and acquisition activity.

The Conference Board report offers a three-step analysis process that companies can use when deciding whether they need a COO:

• Analyze your company's leadership and general management requirements in the context of your strategy and company culture — including the relationship between the CEO and COO.

• Consider the central arguments in favor of and against the COO role in terms of your company's immediate goals and longer-term strategy.

• Assume the COO role is unlikely to add value to the general management of the enterprise and build the strongest case to the contrary.

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Telecom Industry's Efforts at Improving Customer Service Recognized by Employees, But Improvement Still Needed
Despite continually being rated as one of the poorest providers of customer service, telecom employees believe their companies are trying harder than others to please their customers.

Maritz recently conducted a poll of 1,006 full-time employees in the telecommunications industry. When compared to respondents in a similar poll taken of the workforce at large, telecommunication employees were significantly more likely to agree that their companies rewarded employees for providing excellent customer service, their companies set specific goals for improving customer service, and that they had sufficient authority to respond to customer concerns.

However, despite being an industry whose employees rate their companies as better than others, fewer than half (46 percent) agree or strongly agree that their telecommunications employers reward employees for providing excellent customer service. Just slightly more than half (54 percent) agree that their companies have effective formal employee incentive programs for improving customer service. One-out-of-three do not feel they have proper authority to respond promptly to customer problems and requests.

Furthermore:

• Less than four in 10 (39 percent) of telecom employees surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that senior management at their company had frequent, direct interactions with customers.

• Only 55 percent of respondents say their company frequently seeks suggestions for improving customer satisfaction from employees who have regular contact with customers.

• Just over half (53 percent) say they consistently receive feedback on how their work benefits customers.

• Only half (50 percent) say their company's policies and procedures make it easy for them to satisfy customers.

• Only half (50 percent) say their company provides effective training to support excellent customer service.

According to employee engagement expert Rick Garlick, Ph.D., director of consulting and strategic implementation, Maritz Research, the employee responses indicate that telecom companies are talking about customer satisfaction, but they might not be connecting the dots between customer satisfaction and their employees' ability to impact the customer experience.

According to Garlick effective programs should be:

• Aligned with employees - reward and recognition efforts must convince employees to go through the pain of behavior change;

• Centralized - all parts of the organization that touch the customer need to work in tandem;

• Localized - targeted training and processes should meet the specific needs of each location; and

• Smarter - more complete customer and employee satisfaction insights are required to diagnose and enhance the customer experience.

More...

Software-licensing costs predicted to fall
Software-licensing costs are set to fall over the next decade, as IT industry trends converge to give buyers more bargaining power.
Research firm Gartner predicts that vendors will find themselves increasingly challenged as IT departments look to reduce software costs, as they have done with hardware and services.

Gartner has identified seven major trends converging to change software delivery models, reduce dependence on the giant application vendors, and force prices down.

These include business process outsourcing; software as a service; low-cost development environments, such as China and India, combined with modular architectures and service-oriented architectures; the emergence of third-party software maintenance and support; growing interest in open source; the rise of Chinese software companies; and the expansion of the Brazilian, Chinese, and Indian markets.

Although Gartner says open source won't topple the likes of IBM and Microsoft, the firm believes that it will put pressure on traditional software margin structures, particularly in areas such as servers, operating systems, development tools, and database technologies.

Gartner also predicts that a fourth of all new business software will be delivered by software as a service by 2011. Source: CNET
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Does Knowledge Sharing Deliver on Its Promises?
For nearly two decades, consulting firms, technology companies, R&D-driven corporations and other knowledge-intensive organizations have made significant investments in "knowledge management" initiatives. These initiatives are intended to facilitate the capture and transfer of company expertise as a way to spur learning and innovation. But research by Wharton management professor Martine Haas and Morten Hansen, professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD, indicates that knowledge sharing efforts often fail to result in improved task outcomes inside organizations -- and may even hurt project performance. However, organizations that plan carefully before launching a knowledge-sharing initiative, and support these efforts along the way, have a much better chance of adding value, the researchers say.
Full Article...

For future of enterprise computing, watch consumers
According to Intel’s Paul Otellini, speaking at Oracle’s OpenWorld event, the future of enterprise computing will draw from what is being developed on the consumer side. "Consumers today are the No. 1 users of semiconductors; they passed over IT and government in 2004. That's a big change; prior to that period, most people developing silicon in the industry were focused on the main market--the enterprise and IT. Today, most of us are focused on the consumer market as drivers,” Otellini said. Not so long ago, if you were technology-oriented and wanted to do something innovative and cool that would make you rich, you wrote a new piece of enterprise software. However, keeping an enterprise's IT operation up and running is rapidly turning into the technology equivalent of plumbing, or maybe electricity: extremely vital pieces of infrastructure that no longer attract the type of young engineering enthusiasts who built Silicon Valley. Those people are now building Web 2.0 applications.
Full Article...

As Software Firms Merge, Synergy Is Elusive
The issue of what customers experience after a big tech merger is once again coming to the fore as the software industry undergoes its latest wave of consolidation. While the voluminous deal activity has meant a bonanza for shareholders -- many software stocks have soared this year, partly because of the hot merger landscape – some customer’s experience the flip side: As the big software companies flesh out their integration plans internally, customers on the outside are left with unanswered questions about their future. It often takes years for software makers to integrate all the products they have bought -- if they manage to at all -- making it hard for customers to decide what to buy in the meantime. Some customers worry about losing negotiating power in the long run as the number of product choices dwindles. And all the dealmaking can crimp a CIO's ability to plan, since it's unclear which software makers will survive.
Full Article...

Keep Mobile Devices Safe With Encryption
Let's face it: laptop loss is reaching epidemic proportions. In the just-released 2007 CSI Computer Crime and Security Survey, fully half of respondents say a laptop or mobile device has been stolen from their organizations in the past year. In response, at least 35 states now require notification when personal information has been compromised. And as the public becomes weary of continual data breaches--everyone has a friend who's been a victim of identity theft--inevitably customers will start scrutinizing the encryption practices of companies they do business with. The only bright spot: There are encryption exemptions to notification laws, and encryption products have come a long way--thanks in part to the federal government.
Full Article...

Call Center Management on Fast Forward: Succeeding in Today's Dynamic Customer Contact Environment
by Brad Cleveland

Now updated and expanded, "Call Center Management on Fast Forward"; is the most comprehensive source available on running a call center. It covers every aspect of call center management - service level, forecasting, scheduling, resource calculations, metrics, quality, budgeting, reporting, strategy and key enabling technologies - in a format that is well-organized and easy to understand. The updated and expanded edition contains important new information, including: Trends in customer expectations; Best practices in performance reports and objectives; How to create an effective customer access strategy appropriate for today's environment; How to manage multichannel contacts with quality; New technologies and how they re changing customer contact services; Improving the call center s strategic impact and ROI; New case studies and examples from Wells Fargo, Starbucks, Aetna and many others.

More Info...

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.

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