• 2012 Service and Support Metrics Survey Results
• The 2012 Service & Support Snapshot: 5 Support Trends That Will Change Your Business in 2012
• 2011 State of the Industry: Six Trends Every Support Organization Should Know
• 2011 Survey Results: People Issues in Customer Support
• 2011 Survey Results: How Support Behaviors are Changing for Mobile and Social Media Environments
• 2010 Service and Support Metrics Survey
• Research Insight: Self-Service Support
• Research Insight: Average Speed to Answer, Wait Time and Handle Time
• 2010 Service and Leadership Trends in Customer Support
• SupportIndustry.com Research Insight: Effectively Measuring Customer Loyalty
• SupportIndustry.com Research Insight: Cost Per Contact (Phone & E-Mail)
• SupportIndustry.com Research Insight: First Contact Resolution
• 2009 Service and Support Metrics Survey
• 2009 Research Results: The Distributed Workplace: The Challenges of Support

View the latest research related to the Service and Support Industry!

Lower Expectations for IT Spending as Sequester and Global Economic Uncertainty Impact Business Confidence
According to the just released International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Black Book (Version 1, 2013), IT spending was slightly below expectations in the second half of 2012 and first quarter of 2013. Economic uncertainty surrounding the U.S. government sequester, European debt crisis, and weakening GDP in China has resulted in volatile spending patterns across most segments of the market.

New Engagement Survey Metric Uncovers More Risk For Employers Who Want To Keep Their Top Performers
CEOs may ignore many of the metrics their HR departments track, but a new metric that links employee engagement scores with performance appraisal ratings is quickly capturing the attention of business executives and the media. Leadership IQ has identified that in 42% of companies studied, low performers are actually MORE engaged than high and middle performers.

Consumerization, Systems Of Engagement Driving Business Spend On Technology
Less than 10% of business decision-makers outside of IT are not spending their own budget on technology services, and of the 90% that are, almost a quarter of them earmark 21% or more of their unit's expenditures for IT, according to new research from Forrester. Interestingly, this group, which Forrester calls "high spenders," has good relationships with IT and views the CIO and his/her office more positively than lower-spending business leaders. 

Gartner: Half of Employers will Require Employees to Supply Their Own Device for Work Purposes by 2017
As enterprise bring your own device (BYOD) programs continue to become more commonplace, 38 percent of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016, according to a global survey of CIOs by Gartner, Inc.'s Executive Programs.

U.S. Tech Market Will Grow by 6.2% in 2013 and 6.8% in 2014
Forrester's forecast for the US tech market in 2013 and 2014 projects a 6.2% rise in 2013 and a 6.8% growth in 2014 in US business and government purchases of computer equipment, communications equipment, software, IT consulting and systems integration services, and IT outsourcing.  

On the Web, Customer Service Stories Move Fast
Dimensional Research conducted a Q1 2013 survey of US internet users who had recently interacted with the customer service departments of mid-sized companies. Interestingly, they found that among those who said they had had a positive customer service experience, more said it was because they received a quick resolution to their problem, rather than a desirable outcome.

Big Data, Analytics, and Cloud Drove Enterprise Software Growth in 2012
International Data Corporation (IDC) released the latest results from the Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker. For 2012, the worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year reaching a total market size of $342 billion. 2012 confirms the beginning of a more conservative growth period. In addition, there are faster growing market segments, such as Data Access, Analysis and Delivery, Collaborative Applications, CRM Applications, Security Software, and System and Network Management Software.

PC Shipments Post the Steepest Decline Ever in a Single Quarter, According to IDC
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 76.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), down -13.9% compared to the same quarter in 2012 and worse than the forecast decline of -7.7%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The extent of the year-on-year contraction marked the worst quarter since IDC began tracking the PC market quarterly in 1994. The results also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment declines.

CIOs Reveal Second-Quarter Hiring Plans
Fourteen percent of U.S. chief information officers (CIOs) surveyed recently plan to expand their IT teams in the second quarter of 2013, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report . In addition, 61 percent of CIOs said they will not be adding positions but will fill IT positions that open in the next three months. Twenty-two percent will not be hiring, even to fill an open position, and 2 percent expect to reduce their IT staffing levels.

New Study Finds that Emotion is at the Heart of Effective Customer Service
In a world of ever changing customer expectations, global companies seeking ways to provide a differentiated customer experience should focus on the power of emotion. According to a new study by AchieveGlobal, a global workforce development firm, the emotional aspect of customer service is most critical, as one in three global respondents preferred being treated well over having their issues immediately resolved.

Tech Spending Still Strong Despite Economic Volatility and Cannibalization from Mobile Devices and the Cloud
According to the new International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Black Book Query Tool just released, IT spending remained broadly strong throughout a difficult end to 2012 as business confidence waned in the shadow of the "fiscal cliff’," economic growth declined in much of Europe, and economies in Asia struggled to cope with reduced exports. In spite of these headwinds, worldwide IT spending recorded annual growth of 5.9 percent in 2012 in constant currency terms, keeping pace with the 5.8 percent growth recorded in 2011.

Survey Finds Top Priorities for IT Departments in 2013 Driven by Concerns Surrounding Mobile Commerce and Social Media
IT professionals will be expected to handle a growing list of functions with only average competency levels, according to a new survey about IT risk factors for 2013 published by global consulting firm Protiviti. The 2013 IT Priorities Survey found that IT executives are struggling to manage the wide variety of technology risk, regulatory compliance and performance challenges that now face them.

Dice 2013 Salary Survey Results for Technology Professionals
The job market for technology professionals has been a bright spot amid what economic-types typically have termed a modest recovery. That “bright spot” status should remain true into 2013, according to more than 1,000 technology-focused hiring managers and recruiters surveyed by Dice. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of hiring managers and recruiters say that their companies or clients will likely add new technology workers in the first six months of the new year.

2013 Mobile Enterprise Survey Results
The 2013 iPass/MobileIron Mobile Enterprise Report tells a story of the rise of BYOD, and with it increased frustration and loss of control by IT, and concern over rising mobile data costs. Results from our survey show that while Mobile IT brings with it a huge potential to improve workforce productivity, it also introduces significant new challenges for enterprise IT. We also found that Mobile IT means a new relationship between IT and the end-user. The end-user now has the ability to influence IT policy, demanding less IT control and more accommodation of employee owned devices in the workplace.