Research Finds Nearly 90% of IT Organizations Lack a Collaborative Interdepartmental Web Strategy

InformationWeek Analytics announced the release of its latest research report, The Well-Integrated Web, which provides strategies and practices to create a cohesive customer-facing online presence.

The report, based on an analysis of 326 business technology professionals, shows that 44% of respondents run more than five distinct sites, and only 39% of those with consumer sites provide integrated cross-site search and navigation. The vast majority -- 89% -- lack a collaborative interdepartmental online approach.

Companies aiming to improve their business online must coordinate their Web efforts across departments and divisions; simplify access, navigation and search; and incorporate social networking—all without jeopardizing security. After years of scrambling to keep up with new Internet technology amid budget and staff cuts, it's time for IT, working collaboratively with the business office, sales, marketing and customer service, to guide this essential change.

Other Key Findings:

-- 44% of respondents rate their customer-facing Web setups average to poor.

-- Nearly 45% say they operate more than five distinct sites; 14% run more than 50 sites.

-- Only 39% offer consistent navigation and search across their customer-facing Web sites.

-- Just 56% provide customers with single sign-on access to their various sites.

-- Only 11% report a truly collaborative approach to their company Web strategy; 6% say their strategy "changes with the wind."

More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.

Most Executives See Their Organizations Moving To Cloud-Based Services Within Two Years

Business and government executives overwhelmingly expect their organizations to use Cloud computing within the next two years, according to results of a survey by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax, and advisory firm.

Taken at the recent Oracle OpenWorld 2010 trade show in San Francisco, the survey of 174 show attendees found that 90 percent of the executives and 68 percent of the middle managers said they are using or plan to use Cloud-based services within two years.

Specifically, 82 percent of all the respondents, which consisted of executives, middle managers and staff, said that migration to the Cloud raises a broad set of issues around business transformation that should be understood and managed across the entire organization.

When asked to rate the importance of four factors driving a company or organization to pursue Cloud-based activities, 84 percent of those surveyed rated "technical" (ie., scalability, security) as important or extremely important, while 78 percent viewed "economics" (cost savings, shifting capital expenditures to operational expenditures) as important or extremely important, and 76 percent placed "functional" (ie., capabilities, accessibility) in that category, with 66 percent rating "strategic" factors (ie., business process transformation, speed to market) as important or extremely important.

In addition, 79 percent of executives, middle managers and staff said that Cloud is a viable option for enterprises to be more agile and cost competitive and 74 percent said that organizations adopting Cloud can experience long-term competitive advantages. 

More information on Cloud Computing can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.

Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2011

Gartner, Inc. recently highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2011. Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.

A strategic technology may be an existing technology that has matured and/or become suitable for a wider range of uses. It may also be an emerging technology that offers an opportunity for strategic business advantage for early adopters or with potential for significant market disruption in the next five years. As such, these technologies impact the organization's long-term plans, programs and initiatives.

The top 10 strategic technologies for 2011 include:

Cloud Computing. Cloud computing services exist along a spectrum from open public to closed private. The next three years will see the delivery of a range of cloud service approaches that fall between these two extremes. Vendors will offer packaged private cloud implementations that deliver the vendor's public cloud service technologies (software and/or hardware) and methodologies (i.e., best practices to build and run the service) in a form that can be implemented inside the consumer's enterprise. Many will also offer management services to remotely manage the cloud service implementation. Gartner expects large enterprises to have a dynamic sourcing team in place by 2012 that is responsible for ongoing cloudsourcing decisions and management.

Mobile Applications and Media Tablets. Gartner estimates that by the end of 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing an ideal environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web. Mobile devices are becoming computers in their own right, with an astounding amount of processing ability and bandwidth. There are already hundreds of thousands of applications for platforms like the Apple iPhone, in spite of the limited market (only for the one platform) and need for unique coding.

Social Communications and Collaboration. Social media can be divided into: (1) Social networking —social profile management products, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendster as well as social networking analysis (SNA) technologies that employ algorithms to understand and utilize human relationships for the discovery of people and expertise. (2) Social collaboration —technologies, such as wikis, blogs, instant messaging, collaborative office, and crowdsourcing. (3) Social publishing —technologies that assist communities in pooling individual content into a usable and community accessible content repository such as YouTube and flickr. (4) Social feedback - gaining feedback and opinion from the community on specific items as witnessed on YouTube, flickr, Digg, Del.icio.us, and Amazon. Gartner predicts that by 2016, social technologies will be integrated with most business applications. Companies should bring together their social CRM, internal communications and collaboration, and public social site initiatives into a coordinated strategy.

Video. Video is not a new media form, but its use as a standard media type used in non-media companies is expanding rapidly. Technology trends in digital photography, consumer electronics, the web, social software, unified communications, digital and Internet-based television and mobile computing are all reaching critical tipping points that bring video into the mainstream. Over the next three years Gartner believes that video will become a commonplace content type and interaction model for most users, and by 2013, more than 25 percent of the content that workers see in a day will be dominated by pictures, video or audio.

Next Generation Analytics. Increasing compute capabilities of computers including mobile devices along with improving connectivity are enabling a shift in how businesses support operational decisions. It is becoming possible to run simulations or models to predict the future outcome, rather than to simply provide backward looking data about past interactions, and to do these predictions in real-time to support each individual business action. While this may require significant changes to existing operational and business intelligence infrastructure, the potential exists to unlock significant improvements in business results and other success rates.

Social Analytics. Social analytics describes the process of measuring, analyzing and interpreting the results of interactions and associations among people, topics and ideas. These interactions may occur on social software applications used in the workplace, in internally or externally facing communities or on the social web. Social analytics is an umbrella term that includes a number of specialized analysis techniques such as social filtering, social-network analysis, sentiment analysis and social-media analytics. Social network analysis tools are useful for examining social structure and interdependencies as well as the work patterns of individuals, groups or organizations. Social network analysis involves collecting data from multiple sources, identifying relationships, and evaluating the impact, quality or effectiveness of a relationship.

Context-Aware Computing. Context-aware computing centers on the concept of using information about an end user or object’s environment, activities connections and preferences to improve the quality of interaction with that end user. The end user may be a customer, business partner or employee. A contextually aware system anticipates the user's needs and proactively serves up the most appropriate and customized content, product or service. Gartner predicts that by 2013, more than half of Fortune 500 companies will have context-aware computing initiatives and by 2016, one-third of worldwide mobile consumer marketing will be context-awareness-based.

Storage Class Memory. Gartner sees huge use of flash memory in consumer devices, entertainment equipment and other embedded IT systems. It also offers a new layer of the storage hierarchy in servers and client computers that has key advantages — space, heat, performance and ruggedness among them. Unlike RAM, the main memory in servers and PCs, flash memory is persistent even when power is removed. In that way, it looks more like disk drives where information is placed and must survive power-downs and reboots. Given the cost premium, simply building solid state disk drives from flash will tie up that valuable space on all the data in a file or entire volume, while a new explicitly addressed layer, not part of the file system, permits targeted placement of only the high-leverage items of information that need to experience the mix of performance and persistence available with flash memory.

Ubiquitous Computing. The work of Mark Weiser and other researchers at Xerox's PARC paints a picture of the coming third wave of computing where computers are invisibly embedded into the world. As computers proliferate and as everyday objects are given the ability to communicate with RFID tags and their successors, networks will approach and surpass the scale that can be managed in traditional centralized ways. This leads to the important trend of imbuing computing systems into operational technology, whether done as calming technology or explicitly managed and integrated with IT. In addition, it gives us important guidance on what to expect with proliferating personal devices, the effect of consumerization on IT decisions, and the necessary capabilities that will be driven by the pressure of rapid inflation in the number of computers for each person.

Fabric-Based Infrastructure and Computers. A fabric-based computer is a modular form of computing where a system can be aggregated from separate building-block modules connected over a fabric or switched backplane. In its basic form, a fabric-based computer comprises a separate processor, memory, I/O, and offload modules (GPU, NPU, etc.) that are connected to a switched interconnect and, importantly, the software required to configure and manage the resulting system(s). The fabric-based infrastructure (FBI) model abstracts physical resources — processor cores, network bandwidth and links and storage — into pools of resources that are managed by the Fabric Resource Pool Manager (FRPM), software functionality. The FRPM in turn is driven by the Real Time Infrastructure (RTI) Service Governor software component. An FBI can be supplied by a single vendor or by a group of vendors working closely together, or by an integrator — internal or external.

More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.

Social Media and Mobile Tech Trends

The 2010 Toolbox.com/PJA Social Media Index: Wave VI was conducted between July 28 and August 18, 2010. A total of 2,222 IT professionals from 109 countries participated. The goal of this survey was to gain insights from executives and professionals on topical issues that affect decision making. Participants shared input on their use of social media and mobile technology to solve problems, stay current, and collaborate with peers.

The results of the survey revealed:

-- Among IT professionals, social media consumption outpaced editorial and vendor content consumption. Respondents consumed social media at a rate of 5.86 hours per week, versus 3.81 for editorial content and 3.41 for vendor content.

-- Social media represents 45% of total media consumption among IT professionals (compared to 29% for editorial and 26% for vendor content).

-- More than 55% of IT professionals use social media to make better decisions based on insights from like-minded professionals.

-- More than 53% of IT professionals state that their company does not have a social media policy or they are unsure if one exists.

Other results include:

-- The top 3 benefits of mobile devices are the ability to respond to work issues in real time (31.3%), connectivity to e-mail (23.7%), and the ability to work at home (14.2%).

-- Less than 30% of respondents feel that advertisers understand their use of mobile devices for professional purposes "well" or "very well".

-- A larger screen, faster performance, and longer battery life are the top three features that respondents would value in their next mobile phone.

More information on social media trends can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Customers Will Pay Organization More For A Great Customer Experience

According to the fifth annual Customer Experience Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow Technologies, customer experience is playing a significant role in determining where consumers choose to shop and how much they are willing to spend. Results show that exceptional customer experience creates loyal customers and has the power to impact a company’s top and bottom lines.

Nearly all consumers (85 percent) said they would be willing to pay more over the standard price of a good or service to ensure a superior customer experience. Of those consumers that said they would pay more for an excellent customer experience:

-- 55 percent would pay 10 percent or more

-- 27 percent would pay 15 percent or more

-- 10 percent would pay 25 percent or more

This year’s research also shows that a great customer service experience significantly impacts purchasing decisions:

-- Nearly all consumers (82 percent) have stopped doing business with an organization as a result of negative experience and most (75 percent) do not return

-- 55 percent of consumers became customers of a company based on its reputation for great customer service, and 40 percent of consumers have switched to a competitive brand simply because of its reputation for exceptional service

Consumers not only voice their customer experience preferences with their own wallets; they also influence their peers. According to the 2010 Customer Experience Report, customer advocacy should be a key focus for businesses because:

-- Customer service is still the number one reason consumers recommend an organization, more than products or price

-- Word of mouth is the number one influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions (76 percent), followed by customer reviews and online feedback at 49 percent

-- 79 percent of consumers that have had a negative experience with an organization told others about it, and 97 percent chose to share their experience via word of mouth

-- 85 percent wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of doing business with that company and 66 percent wanted to discourage others from buying from that company

The 2010 report outlines why consumers stop doing business with a company:

-- Rude staff (73 percent)

-- Issues weren’t resolved quickly (55 percent)

-- Unknowledgeable staff (51 percent)

More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.

Shifting Customer Expectations Will Affect Adoption of Outsourced Cloud Service Delivery Models

Recently published demand-side research by International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals that the move toward outsourced cloud services will dramatically change the requirements that outsourcers and service providers will need to meet to align with the performance and relationship expectations of customers.

IDC believes that players looking to compete successfully in the market for outsourced cloud services will need to develop robust road maps of how customers are looking to adopt these utility-based services that cut across entire organization requirements. As part of succeeding, many outsourcers and providers will need to make radical adjustments to their delivery capabilities, partnership ecosystems, business models, and service offerings. They will also need to extend their view of who they are and who they will be competing with within and beyond the traditional market of IT and business process services.

More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com.

Spending on Social Media Highest Among U.S. Marketers Using the Emerging Channel to Deepen Customer Loyalty

U.S. companies that use social media primarily to deepen customer loyalty spend almost twice as much on this emerging channel as competitors who use it for brand awareness, customer acquisition and other core marketing purposes, according to national survey results jointly released by COLLOQUY and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Specifically, the survey results show the average social media spend for marketers whose primary objective is to obtain customer loyalty was $88,000 last year, compared to $53,000 for brand awareness and $30,000 for customer acquisition, the objectives that attracted the next highest spending levels.

Additionally, the survey shows that the amount of social media budget marketers allocated to loyalty objectives increased by 293% over the past 12 months, easily surpassing allocation increases for all other social media-related marketing objectives.

One of the key revelations from the research is that the absolute dollar amount marketers are setting aside for social media is low:

* When asked what percentage of their company’s overall marketing budget is spent on social media, the largest group, covering 24% of survey takers, selected "don’t know"

* 17% of respondents said they allocated only 1% of their annual marketing budget to social media

* 16% said they allocate 4-5%

* Smaller companies with tighter budgets are significantly more likely than large companies to say they spend almost 50% of their marketing budget on social media.

Another key finding reveals a lack of metrics for success differentiated by objective:

* When asked to identify the most important measure of social media success, nearly two-thirds of respondents selected "don’t know"

* Of those who identified a measurement, the largest group, covering 20%, said engaging customers to respond and provide feedback

* 65% of respondents said they’re not using any listening tools to monitor what their customers are saying about their brand.

More information on social media can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Operational Transformation Needed to Align Marketing and IT Groups as Companies Seek Competitive Advantage

Operational change is required for corporate marketers and information technology (IT) professionals as they seek to "lead not lag" to embrace new digital marketing technologies and channels in the quest to acquire, maintain and enhance customer relationships and increase revenue, according to a new report from the CMO Council and Accenture. Another key finding of the report, titled "The CMO-CIO Alignment Imperative: Driving Revenue through Customer Relevance," is that marketing and IT executives do not believe they are highly effective partners, as they struggle to achieve common goals in the race to adopt and keep pace with rapidly evolving digital marketing capabilities.

In fact, very few marketing and IT executives surveyed for the report believe their companies are prepared to exploit the new digital channels, despite their shared conviction that technology now underpins and shapes the entire customer experience. Specifically, just 4 percent of more than 300 marketing executives and 7 percent of the more than 300 IT executives who participated in the study said their companies are very prepared to exploit digital marketing channels. Additionally, only 8 percent of marketers and 6 percent of IT executives said they believe their data and analytics are completely integrated. And nearly than one-third of marketers and IT executives alike (29 percent and 27 percent, respectively) said they are either having difficulty integrating critical analytics capabilities or believe they are not integrated at all.

As customers increased their demand for always-on access points, service options and interactive experiences, a large majority of marketing executives (78 percent) and IT executives (68 percent) said that digital marketing is important to their organizations. Yet, only one-third of marketers (35 percent) and one-fifth of IT executives (20 percent) said their companies are "heavily committed and invested" in digital marketing.

In further findings, the research reveals that both marketers and IT professionals appear to be in close agreement on the value and impact of digital channels of engagement and the strategic areas of focus for closer CMO-CIO alignment. However, challenges and roadblocks remain, as nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of marketers and half (48 percent) of IT executives said they have experienced problems or challenges with implementing marketing solutions or IT projects to further marketing effectiveness.

Both groups agree that delivering more timely and relevant transactional, behavioral and customer insight data is at the top of the list. But on the IT side, there also is a focus on automating customer interactions, improving customer care and handling, as well as furthering the use of social media for online listening and interaction. Marketers, however, said they would like IT to improve the links and alignment between functional marketing, sales and channel groups, and to deploy better marketing execution platforms and operational systems.

Neither IT nor marketing seems prepared to capitalize on investments once they have been made and implemented. Insufficient funding (cited by 59 percent of marketers) and a lack of understanding of the opportunity by senior management (cited by 46 percent of IT executives) are viewed as the primary constraints for those who were unprepared to capitalize on the opportunities. However, while marketers believe that customer insight and intelligence are critical to competitive advantage, they are finding it difficult to gain IT support for better integration and mining of disparate customer data that is often isolated and under-utilized across organizational silos.

The study found that, in the absence of top-down engagement in the digital reinvention of marketing, there is a noticeable disconnect between IT and marketing executives about who they believe is leading the digital strategy for their company. More than half (58 percent) of IT executives said they were championing, spearheading or shaping the digital agenda at their company, whereas fewer than one-fifth (19 percent) of the marketers said that the digital agendas at their companies were being shaped by IT executives. Instead, 69 percent of marketers said they were the ones in the driver's seat.

Timing, resources and support are also key constraints to a more collaborative, fluid and profitable IT-marketing relationship, as both marketing and IT executives admit to following different schedules, priorities and paths to implementation.

Further, 64 percent of marketers said implementing new solutions has been a challenge; 46 percent of marketers said marketing is not seen as a priority by the IT executives; and 44 percent of marketers said their budgets aren't big enough to execute their plans. From the technology side, 30 percent of IT executives said they lack the time and technical resources to help marketing; 39 percent of them said that marketing bypasses them and works directly with the vendor; and 31 percent said marketers hinder progress by taking control and isolating IT from solution selection, strategy or implementation.

More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com