Gartner Says by 2017 Your Smartphone Will Be Smarter Than You

Smartphones will soon be able to predict a consumer’s next move, their next purchase or interpret actions based on what it knows, according to Gartner, Inc. This insight will be performed based on an individual’s data gathered using cognizant computing — the next step in personal cloud computing. 

The first services that will be performed "automatically" will generally help with menial tasks — and significantly time consuming or time wasting tasks — such as time-bound events (calendaring) such as booking a car for its yearly service, creating a weekly to-do list, sending birthday greetings, or responding to mundane email messages. Gradually, as confidence in the outsourcing of more menial tasks to the smartphone increases, consumers are expected to become accustomed to allowing a greater array of apps and services to take control of other aspects of their lives - this will be the era of cognizant computing. 

By 2017 mobile phones will be smarter than people not because of an intrinsic intelligence, but because the cloud and the data stored in the cloud will provide them with the computational ability to make sense of the information they have so they appear smart.

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

Study Reveals More than 2/3 of Marketing & IT Leaders Report Being “More Effective” Due to Collaboration

To meet the needs of today’s evolving digital, mobile and social world, marketing and technology executives are finding collaboration across people, processes and technologies is leading to more effective business outcomes. To demonstrate how organizations are embracing collaboration, Oracle, in partnership with Leader Networks and Social Media Today, launched an executive study revealing opportunities and obstacles for senior marketing and technology leaders to more effectively collaborate and to deliver real-world business value. The results of the survey highlight how marketing and technology teams are working together, when they are working in silos, and the business value of becoming a socially enabled enterprise.

Key Findings

-- Marketing and technology roles are changing: Both marketers and IT leaders report seeing their roles evolve due to a greater emphasis on social business activities. Both groups indicate they now have the ability to collaborate more effectively. They also recognize the need to acquire new skills and hire new skillsets to meet the needs of today’s evolving digital, mobile and social landscape.

-- Marketers lead the collaboration charge: Marketing respondents were more likely to report a higher level of collaboration than their IT/technology counterparts.

-- Current collaboration leaves room for growth: Only 36 percent of marketing respondents and 26 percent of IT/technology respondents report collaborating with each other “frequently” on projects. Slightly more than half of marketing and IT/technology respondents classify their collaboration as “adequate.” Sixteen percent of IT/technology respondents reported that collaboration with marketing is “non-existent.”

-- Despite challenges, collaboration is better than before: Very few respondents reported collaborating less than they did a year ago. Moreover, 41 percent of marketing and 38 percent of IT/technology leaders indicate improved collaboration from last year.

-- Collaboration delivers business value: More than two thirds of both marketing and technology leaders stated that they are “more effective” professionally due to increased collaboration. Reported benefits included stronger and more compelling marketing messages, faster speed-to-market, greater product adoption, project cost reductions, and fewer defects in product and services.

More information on IT, marketing and CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Investing in Digital Technologies and Improving Customer Experiences is Enabling Companies to Identify New Growth Opportunities and Enhance Performance

While many organizations are focused on IT cost reduction, productivity gain and process improvement, the latest global research from Accenture reveals that companies that invest in digital technologies and improving customer experiences are able to identify new growth opportunities and enhance performance.

The research report, HighPerformers in IT: Defined by Digital, features insights from senior IT executives in more than 200 global companies across a range of industries. The report shows that high performers devote 55 percent of their information technology (IT) budgets to delivering strategic capabilities that support growth and business performance. Their counterparts, however, invest only 37 percent. Moreover, five times more businesses (50 percent) that excel in their use of IT, look beyond a narrow IT lens to consider broader business implications - social, economic and geopolitical factors - as part of their strategy and planning.

Accenture’s research found that the adoption rate of key technologies, including cloud computing, analytics, social, mobility and security, was greater across-the-board for companies that excel in their use of IT than their counterparts. According to the research, these companies have recognized and embraced the transformational impact of digital IT to create new products and services that supports growth. 

For example, the high performers are leading the way in “mobilizing” their businesses. According to the research, 69 percent of them are committed to mobile transactions compared to 42 percent of other organizations, which allows their customers to reorder their favorite pair of shoes, book travel, pay for their coffee and even transfer cash between bank accounts on the go. And approximately twice as many IT leaders than non-leaders are achieving or exceeding expected business value from their investments in predictive and descriptive analytics.


Mastering a Hybrid IT Environment
According to the findings, the leaders in IT are also moving to the cloud faster and reaping more benefits sooner than other organizations. One-third (33 percent) of the executives representing those companies responded that they are effectively replacing legacy components with private and public cloud alternatives while almost one in six (15 percent) already centrally manage a fully virtualized, dynamically provisioned hybrid infrastructure.

The survey also found that companies expect to operate in a hybrid IT environment for the foreseeable future. The top performers predict that a substantial part of their IT footprint – whether infrastructure, middleware or applications – will remain “traditional,” both hosted and on-premise. In fact, these leaders believe that they will still maintain nearly six in 10 of their applications (59 percent) in a traditional license model by 2020.

It’s clear that high performers are more effective in taking advantage of cloud technology considering that:
 

       -- 40 percent see measurable improvements in IT agility, with only 9 percent of other organizations claiming the same.

-- 43 percent declared strong results in aligning between project portfolios and IT business goals, a 23 percent advantage over other organizations.

      --  33 percent see direct cost reductions as a result of their cloud investments while only 14 percent of other organizations see similar results.

Having the Right Data Creates Competitive Advantage
Leaders in the use of IT have been investing in master data management and data quality assurance for years, and as a result, they hold a significant advantage in the race to getting the right data. Their investments are now paying off. According to the research, twice as many high performers as other organizations are achieving or exceeding the business value they expected in key areas such as data management (77 percent vs. 30 percent), content management (77 percent vs. 23 percent)  and predictive analytics (54 percent vs. 21 percent).

By successfully navigating the dynamics between information and business processes and systems, those performing at the very top are much better equipped to build strategic analytic capabilities than their counterparts. Almost half (46 percent) say they already have developed and capitalized on new insights on changing customer behavior, compared to just three percent of other organizations.

It Really is All About the Customer
Leaders in IT consistently chose customer-focused business objectives among the top three priorities that guide their IT investment strategies. This includes providing the right information to the right person at the right time, finding better ways to interact with customers and delivering new services and products to customers. They also rated front-office applications among their best-performing in terms of technical and business adequacy, which was significantly higher for their companies than for other organizations.

Managing IT Security and Business Risk
Organizations are increasingly focused on ensuring the security of their growing digital business but many struggle to keep pace with new security technologies. Although most survey respondents believe they currently have the right level of investment in compliance and overall security, 44 percent concede that they have been underinvesting in cyber-security. There is a general acknowledgement that endpoint security is not sufficient.  But the shift to active defense strategies – staying one step ahead of the attackers – has not yet taken hold. Still, 75 percent of high- performing organizations have made it a priority to further lower their risk profile and more rapidly upgrade their IT security practices within the next year. 

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

 

Technology CEOs should consider nine disruptive forces that are impacting businesses

The accelerated pace of business disruption is being triggered by the impact of new technologies combined with the challenges and opportunities of creating a connected experience, which are bigger than ever before, according to a new PwC report, The new digital ecosystemreality: Nine trends rewriting the rules of business. The nine trends outlined in the report are too inter-related to be tackled with an independent strategy.  PwC recommends two complementary strategies, one targeting the short-term trends and the other targeting long-term challenges.

Trend number 1: Disruptive innovation

Radical shifts in technologies translate to radical shifts in business models. In order to prepare, technology CEOs should consider a variety of steps, including: developing an appropriate innovation strategy that ties in with the corporate vision and company capabilities; determining the best ways of fostering and sustaining organic innovation; identifying opportunities for growth; determining strategic investment bets and identifying appropriate partners for highly integrated digital ecosystems.

Trend number 2: Managing cost and complexity

According to PwC, in terms of IT complexity, more than half of all companies are turning to the cloud to reduce expenses. They must also adjust their operating model to increase agility through focus on innovation both in technology and processes, in order to lay the foundation for a more-efficient cost structure. Additionally, companies are using technology to get better information faster and cheaper through using social analytics within the connected experience they have with customers and creating a connected experience with suppliers and partners through digital ecosystems.

Trend number 3: Convergence

The convergence of consumer and corporate capabilities has forced most companies across industries to become technology companies. Many companies will need to increase the pace of their customer communications in order to meet these increased expectations.

Trend number 4: Consumerization of IT

Employees have become accustomed to the ease of accessing information online, whether through mobile devices, tablets or personal computers. Companies will need to develop enterprise applications that are easier to learn to improve productivity and those that are easier to use on smartphones and other mobile devices.

Trend number 5: Changing dynamics between developing and developed countries

Technology companies will likely be looking to emerging markets for new business opportunities. Therefore, technology CEOs should think about rationalizing their global operations and simplifying and standardizing business processes and products so that development can be applied across any region, and also tailored for a particular region.

Trend number 6: Social media

According to PwC surveys, 90 percent of technology companies are focusing on strengthening relationships with customers and clients by increasing engagement and 84 percent are enhancing their focus on social media in search of new customers. Companies can use social media to interact on a regular basis, to deliver information and advice, and thus potentially increase the value of the experience.

Trend number 7: Data explosion

Technology companies must be able to accommodate input from social media with input from sales results in order to harness the broad flow of information. This requires developing a variety of systems, for example: data warehouses, analytic tools, storage systems, and business intelligence.

Trend number 8: IP and data protection

Being able to compete in the global world of technology requires maintaining a balance for technology companies. Companies need to ensure that their systems are accessible to their friends (i.e. employees and business partners) and unavailable to their competitors.

Trend number 9: Changing political and regulatory landscape

Technology CEOs have already been subjected to extensive regulatory conditions, therefore they must be prepared to track manufacturing and product information, and to be audited on a regular basis.

To address these nine trends, PwC recommends that technology companies focus on extending their own digital transformation across their business units, including manufacturing, supply chain and finance.  Digitization supports automation, which decreases response time and increases the accessibility of information which in turn enables companies to be more agile and able to respond to change faster.

More information on managing customer relationships can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Gartner Identifies Top Vertical Industry Predictions for IT Organizations for 2014

Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top industrypredictions for IT organizations and users for 2014 and beyond. Most industries are facing accelerating pressure for fundamental transformation, including embracing digitalization in order to survive and stay competitive.

CIOs and other IT and business leaders should use Gartner's predictions and recommendations to better understand the forces that are changing their world and develop strategies to address the requirements of this fast-changing business environment.

Top industry predictions include:

-- By 2016, poor return on equity will drive more than 60 percent of banks worldwide to process the majority of their transactions in the cloud.

-- By year-end 2017, at least seven of the world's top 10 multichannel retailers will use 3D printing technologies to generate custom stock orders.

-- By 2017, more than 60 percent of government organizations with a CIO and a chief digital officer will eliminate one of these roles.

-- By 2017, 40 percent of utilities with smart metering solutions will use cloud-based big data analytics to address asset-, commodity-, customer- or revenue-related needs.

-- By year-end 2015, inadequate ROI will drive insurers to abandon 40 percent of their current customer-facing mobile apps.

-- Full-genome sequencing will stimulate a new market for medical data banks, with market penetration exceeding three percent by 2016.

-- By 2016, 60 percent of U.S. health insurers will know the procedure price and provider quality rating of shoppable medical services in advance.

-- Through 2017, K-12 online education spending will increase 25 percent, while budgetary constraints will keep spending on traditional instructional categories stagnant.

-- By 2018, 20 percent of the top 100 manufacturers' revenue will come from innovations that are the result of new cross-industry value experiences.

-- By 2018, 3D printing will result in the loss of at least $100 billion per year in intellectual property globally.

-- By 2017, 15 percent of consumers will respond to context-aware offers based on their individual demographics and shopper profiles.

-- By 2015, 80 percent of life science organizations will be crushed by elements of big data, exposing poor ROI on IT investments.

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

Digital Business Incompetence Will Cause 25 Percent of Businesses to Lose Competitive Ranking by 2017

Digital business incompetence will cause a quarter of businesses to lose competitive ranking by 2017, according toGartner, Inc. During the second quarter of 2013, Gartner conducted a survey of 151 participants who were intimately involved in making digital business strategy decisions or in locating, developing and acquiring talent for those digital business strategy endeavors. Ninety percent of respondents thought that competition for talent will make or break digital business success.

According to Gartner, a digital business strategy creates value and revenue from digital assets. It goes beyond process automation to transform processes, business models and customer experience by exploiting the pervasive digital connections between systems, people, places and things.

Digital business has rapidly become a lingua franca of modern business, a common and unifying language across people whose native languages — in the modern age, the languages of organizations, companies, cultures and occupations — are different.

To jump-start digital business activity, Gartner recommends identifying key strategy players and possessors of technology and business expertise both inside and outside the enterprise and engaging them to launch a digital business community of practice to enrich cross-business understanding. CIOs who learn to orchestrate talent across multiple employment models and channels can take advantage of global ecosystems to build digital expertise quickly.

The world of digital business does more than pose challenges for CIOs and other executives. It also opens opportunities to use digital technology to reach beyond organizational boundaries, to assemble problem-solving expertise from around the world, to weave a fabric of knowledge and expertise across communities of practice, and to understand and exploit new models of work. Notably, the quest for digital business expertise provides an undeniable opportunity for CIOs and HR executives to create a robust alliance that helps them meet their respective outcomes. Leading-edge CIOs become leading edge because their HR and talent strategy counterparts support them.

Gartner advises CIOs to work with high-influence HR executives to investigate talent orchestration and to redesign the learning programs required to build digital business expertise. The focus should be on hiring, developing and deploying versatile and multidisciplined teams of people. Once teams are hired, the organization should promote employee engagement as doing so will make the organization more attractive to prospective employees and increase talent retention rates throughout the shift toward the digital strategy.

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

US Consumers Want Today's Companies to be Proactive in Customer Service

inContact, a provider of cloud contact center software and contact center agent optimization tools, announced the findings of their July 2013 customer service survey, that examined the preferences of consumers when it comes to incoming calls and other proactive communications from companies.

The study, conducted online by Harris Interactive, on behalf of inContact, among 2,034 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older, shows that consumers are open to being contacted proactively by companies. According to the findings, 87 percent of U.S. adults want to be contacted proactively by an organization or company.

Yet a major hindrance to proactive customer service is the initial pause or delay that often occurs in traditional legacy predictive dialers. The inContact survey uncovered that the pause is not only common, but it prevents customers from talking to companies. The most common initial reaction to a delay or pause, among those who answer calls from unfamiliar numbers, is to simply hang up (49%).

Customers would be more receptive if the pause could be eliminated. Over half (55%) of those who answer incoming calls from unfamiliar numbers say that if there was no delay or pause they would be more receptive to what the caller might have to say and/or more interested in hearing who’s calling them from an unfamiliar number.

Additional Key Findings Include:

-- Nearly one-in-five (17%) of those who answer incoming calls from unfamiliar numbers believe the delay/pause conveys that they are not important to the caller.

-- The most popular reasons why U.S. adults would want to be contacted is about fraudulent activity on their account (65%), for setting appointments or reminders (53%) or with questions about an order they placed (51%).

-- Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those who have had a pleasant surprise or positive experience with an incoming call from a business/service provider report they had a positive change in their perception of the organization calling them.

-- 62% of those who have had a pleasant surprise or positive experience with an incoming call from a business/service provider have taken an action as a result of that positive experience.

More information on customer service, support and CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com