Digital Transformation

Explore the new and innovative ways for companies to engage digitally in their journey to buy services and the ways channel sellers can adapt and change to relate to their buyers and the services that they are most likely to purchase. Join the conversation by joining roundtable discussions, jumping into networking lounges and exploring new ideas.

On the Stage 

Cloud Conventions 2021
May 12-14

Explore the On Demand Sessions

Navigate the "Next Normal"

Digital Transformation Sessions

The Digital Transformation of the Buyer's Journey

Join EagleTEQ partner Mike Cromwell as he takes you through the new and innovative ways that companies will engage digitally in their journey to buy services and how channel sellers must adapt and change to take advantage of the new ways to relate to their buyers.

The Evolution of Technology that will Transform the Channel

Our work environment and the technology that powers it is more foundational, widespread and sustaining as we engaged digitally. Jon Arnold walks you though those changes, how they impact channel strategy and what to now expect in the next normal.

The Future of the Contact Center

What strategy will contact centers deploy as business opens up, more people get vaccinated, and the workforce can safely return to their office work stations? Join our expert contact center panel to explore the future of the contact center in 2021 and beyond.

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Network & Connect

Ask the Experts

Speakers and panelists joined the Meet the Expert lounges, available after sessions for attendees to take a deeper dive and join the conversation.

View the Meet the Experts

The Networking Lounge

The Cloud Coffee Corner opened each morning and the day ended with a casual lounge & Comedy Night on Thursday.

View the Networking Lounge

The Latest from Cloud Conventions 2021:

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TaaS Mania! The evolution of the channel via a... TaaS Mania! The evolution of the channel via a...

Companies purchase business supplies or services usually begin the buying journey online as they research their options and when possible ...

May 14, 2021 On Demand Sessions
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0 On-Demand-Sessions-On-Demand-Sessions jplist-topic-TaaS jplist-topic-Digital-Supply-Chain 05/14/2021 0 508725 508725 Companies purchase business supplies or services usually begin the buying journey online as they research their options and when possible complete the purchase.  In the last couple of years, the telecommunications and cloud channel has seen the emergence of online platforms to showcase solutions, but has stopped short of having the customer complete the purchase without the involvement of the sales partner.  Going forward, as more platforms emerge and more services become available to purchase online, how do channel sellers prepare themselves for the evolution of the buying process in a digital world?  Join Rick Beckers, CEO of TaaS Mania, who leads a panel discussion to explore the digital buying journey from the point of view of a distributor, sales partner and corporate buyer to get their perspective on where they see the "digital supply chain" evolving in 2021 and beyond. Interested in learning more about Cloud Conventions Virtual Events? Visit Cloud Conventions » Want to learn about Convey Services Partner Portals? Visit Convey Services »

TaaS Mania! The evolution of the channel via a Digital Supply Chain

On Demand Sessions

Companies purchase business supplies or services usually begin the buying journey online as they research their options and when possible complete ...

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Taking Customer Experience to a New Level; How... Taking Customer Experience to a New Level; How...

Panel Discussion with Mike Cromwell, Andrew Pryfogle, Aakash Kumar, Matt ...

Enterprises globally are advancing Digital Transformation (DX) programs at an accelerating pace. A combination of factors including ...

May 12, 2021 On Demand Sessions
On Demand Sessions
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1 On-Demand-Sessions-On-Demand-Sessions jplist-topic-csr jplist-topic-customer jplist-topic-service jplist-topic-experience 05/12/2021 0 508716 508716 Enterprises globally are advancing Digital Transformation (DX) programs at an accelerating pace.  A combination of factors including pandemic related drivers and the advancement of applications in new areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation, Machine Learning and Business Process Outsourcing are quickly building upon the foundation that was laid by technologies such as UCaaS & CCaaS.  In this panel, you'll hear from experts on the following topics:Top drivers and outcomes of Digital Transformation programs in the enterpriseHow emerging technologies are expected to redefine Customer Experience & take it to a new levelWhy Digital Transformation & Customer Experience initiatives are changing the conversations partners are having with clientsHow Channel Partners can help their clients accelerate their Digital Transformation & Customer Experience initiatives Interested in learning more about Cloud Conventions Virtual Events? Visit Cloud Conventions » Want to learn about Convey Services Partner Portals? Visit Convey Services »

Taking Customer Experience to a New Level; How Emerging Technologies are Shaping the Future of Customer Experience

On Demand Sessions

Enterprises globally are advancing Digital Transformation (DX) programs at an accelerating pace. A combination of factors including pandemic related ...

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Navigating the "Next Normal" for the Contact... Navigating the "Next Normal" for the Contact...

A year ago an expert panel in the contact center industry discussed how contact centers were forced to almost instantly deploy all teams ...

May 12, 2021 On Demand Sessions
On Demand Sessions
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2 On-Demand-Sessions-On-Demand-Sessions jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-2020 jplist-topic-next-normal 05/12/2021 0 508580 508580 A year ago an expert panel in the contact center industry discussed how contact centers were forced to almost instantly deploy all teams and agents to a completely virtual model. A year later, organizations are planning how to adjust their call center strategy as organizations either return their workers to the office, create a hybrid model, or decide to stay totally virtual. Join Darlene Geller-Stoff as she leads a panel of contact center industry professionals to update you on the changes in the industry and what to expect in 2021 and beyond. Interested in learning more about Cloud Conventions Virtual Events? Visit Cloud Conventions » Want to learn about Convey Services Partner Portals? Visit Convey Services »

Navigating the "Next Normal" for the Contact Center - A Year Later

On Demand Sessions

A year ago an expert panel in the contact center industry discussed how contact centers were forced to almost instantly deploy all teams and agents ...

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The Digital Transformation of the Buyer's Journey The Digital Transformation of the Buyer's Journey

In 2020 we saw pace of innovation accelerate as never before with the hard pivot to a virtual workforce. However, the transformation to ...

May 12, 2021 On Demand Sessions
On Demand Sessions
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3 On-Demand-Sessions-On-Demand-Sessions jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-tech jplist-topic-buyer jplist-topic-EagleTEQ 05/12/2021 0 508576 508576 In 2020 we saw pace of innovation accelerate as never before with the hard pivot to a virtual workforce.  However, the transformation to digital has been evolving over time with the introduction of new technology, new tools, more automation and faster and more efficient ways to reach the market.  These changes affect the customer experience, the workplace and your ability to stay competitive in the marketplace.  Join EagleTEQ partner Mike Cromwell as he takes you through the new and innovative ways that companies will engage digitally in their journey to buy services and how channel sellers must adapt and change to take advantage of the new ways to relate to their buyers. Interested in learning more about Cloud Conventions Virtual Events? Visit Cloud Conventions » Want to learn about Convey Services Partner Portals? Visit Convey Services »

The Digital Transformation of the Buyer's Journey

On Demand Sessions

In 2020 we saw pace of innovation accelerate as never before with the hard pivot to a virtual workforce. However, the transformation to digital has ...

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The Evolution of Technology that will Transform... The Evolution of Technology that will Transform...

This last year has fundamentally changed who we are, how we work, and our viewpoint of technology. A year ago, communications industry ...

May 12, 2021 On Demand Sessions
On Demand Sessions
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4 On-Demand-Sessions-On-Demand-Sessions jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-tech jplist-topic-channel 05/12/2021 0 508575 508575 This last year has fundamentally changed who we are, how we work, and our viewpoint of technology. A year ago, communications industry researcher and strategist Jon Arnold helped the Cloud Conventions 2020 audience understand how workplace strategies changed as we locked down for what we thought was only a few months. A year later, our viewpoint of our work environment and the technology that powers it have become more foundational, widespread and sustaining as we engaged digitally. Join Jon as he walks you though those changes, how they impact channel strategy and what to now expect in the "Next Normal." Interested in learning more about Cloud Conventions Virtual Events? Visit Cloud Conventions » Want to learn about Convey Services Partner Portals? Visit Convey Services »

The Evolution of Technology that will Transform the Channel

On Demand Sessions

This last year has fundamentally changed who we are, how we work, and our viewpoint of technology. A year ago, communications industry researcher and ...

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Erick Simpson Erick Simpson

Founder & Chief Strategist at ErickSimpson.com

Click here to request a meetingCo-founder of one of the first "pure play" MSPs in the industry creator of the MSP Mastered® Methodology ...

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5 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Erick-Simpson 0 511080 511080 Click here to request a meetingCo-founder of one of the first "pure play" MSPs in the industry creator of the MSP Mastered® Methodology for Managed Services business performance improvement and transformation. Erick Simpson is a technology business & channel growth expert, influencer, thought leader, speaker and author with 4 best-selling books and 50 white papers to his credit and co-host of the ChannelPro 5 Minute Roundup Podcast. Erick's industry recognition includes Channel Futures' 7 Thought Leaders Defining the MSP Market, Jay McBain's 100 Most Visible Channel Leaders, 2 Time ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries, 2 Time MSP Mentor 250 and SMB Nation's SMB 150 award recipient.

Erick Simpson

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingCo-founder of one of the first "pure play" MSPs in the industry creator of the MSP Mastered® Methodology for Managed ...

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Andrew Down Andrew Down

Click here to request a meetingAndrew Down, Director of Sales for the IT Channel at Vendasta, Saskatchewan based business professional and ...

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6 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Andrew-down jplist-topic-Digital-Transformation 0 510680 510680 Click here to request a meetingAndrew Down, Director of Sales for the IT Channel at Vendasta, Saskatchewan based business professional and entrepreneur with strong experience in corporate, SMB, enterprise, non-profit and public sector sales. Other experience includes senior leadership, strategic planning, business development, VAR/MSP/IT Channel, marketing, event management, consulting services and training. Andrew has a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of Saskatchewan and has been in the IT industry for over 13 years. He has a passion for empowering businesses to embrace leading edge technology solutions to improve business operations. Andrew possesses a keen interest in personal and professional development, including networking, non-profit/community engagement, connecting and continuous learning.

Andrew Down

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingAndrew Down, Director of Sales for the IT Channel at Vendasta, Saskatchewan based business professional and ...

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Marcela Gonzalez Cagle Marcela Gonzalez Cagle

Manager Partner Programs, Vonage

Click here to request a meetingMarcela Gonzalez Cagle joined Vonage in 2016 and, since then, has been successfully driving regional ...

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7 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Marcela-Gonzalez-Cagle jplist-topic-Vonage 0 510484 510484 Click here to request a meetingMarcela Gonzalez Cagle joined Vonage in 2016 and, since then, has been successfully driving regional expansion, execution and enablement for the Vonage partner community. With more than 10 years of experience in branding, events and partner marketing, Gonzalez Cagle has played a key role in the launch of the Vonage Partner Network, including the Program's expansion to the UK, and the Company's overall channel sales strategy.

Marcela Gonzalez Cagle

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingMarcela Gonzalez Cagle joined Vonage in 2016 and, since then, has been successfully driving regional expansion, ...

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Rob Doucette Rob Doucette

VP of Product Management, Microsoft Teams

Click here to request a meeting

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8 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Rob-Doucette jplist-topic-Microsoft-Teams 0 510474 510474 Click here to request a meeting

Rob Doucette

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Pete Lee Pete Lee

Vice President of Global Sales & Alliances, Observe.AI

Click here to request a meeting Pete Lee is a Seed/Series A/Series B Technology Executive providing organizational wide leadership in SaaS ...

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9 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Pete-Lee jplist-topic-Observe-AI 0 508715 508715 Click here to request a meeting Pete Lee is a Seed/Series A/Series B Technology Executive providing organizational wide leadership in SaaS and AI business with strategy, sales, delivery, and marketing. Currently Pete serves as the Vice President of Global Sales & Alliances of Observe.AI, a leader in Contact Center AI, transforming customer experiences and improving agent performance by helping top brands analyze 100% of interactions, extract actionable sentiment insights and streamline workflows. Pete has documented success launching and implementing significant Cloud transformation strategies, resulting in a ten-fold revenue increase. His leadership philosophy encompasses a collaborative, commitment to excellence approach by cultivating synergistic teams, leading with training of best practices, exceptional product knowledge, dynamic relationship skills, and company cultural fit. Pete is recognized thought leader and subject matter expert, conducting Cloud public speaking. His distinguished career includes the Vice President of US Sales for LiveTiles and a partner in BDO Digital Services where he led sales, alliance, innovation and growth functions

Pete Lee

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting Pete Lee is a Seed/Series A/Series B Technology Executive providing organizational wide leadership in SaaS and AI ...

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Othmar Müller von Blumencron, PhD Othmar Müller von Blumencron, PhD

Business Development, VIPdesk

Click here to request a meetingBorn and raised in Germany and Switzerland, Othmar joined VIPdesk 12 years ago believing that the At-Home ...

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10 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-VIPdesk jplist-topic-marketing jplist-topic-business-development 0 504896 504896 Click here to request a meetingBorn and raised in Germany and Switzerland, Othmar joined VIPdesk 12 years ago believing that the At-Home customer care approach will disrupt the traditional call center business model. Othmar has been responsible for the Business Development of VIPdesk's client portfolio and played a pivotal role for the growth of the company. Prior to joining VIPdesk, he served in senior business development roles at Bertelsmann and America Online both in Europe and the US, architecting and negotiating some of the landmark deals during the Internet boom. As a graduate of the University of St.Gallen with a PhD in Marketing and Media Science, Othmar has shown the ability to identify and capitalize on new market opportunities.

Othmar Müller von Blumencron, PhD

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingBorn and raised in Germany and Switzerland, Othmar joined VIPdesk 12 years ago believing that the At-Home customer ...

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Matt Lautz Matt Lautz

CEO & Owner of Neostella

Click here to request a meeting Matt Lautz is the CEO & Owner of Neostella, a software implementation and consulting firm specializing ...

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11 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Matt-Lautz jplist-topic-Neostella 0 508714 508714 Click here to request a meeting Matt Lautz is the CEO & Owner of Neostella, a software implementation and consulting firm specializing in RPA and contact center implementations and integrations. Located in Milwaukee, WI and London UK Neostella supports clients around North America and Europe. Prior to Neostella, Matt has a long history of founding, growing and profitably selling technology companies in addition to helping other technology entrepreneurs find funding. Matt cofounded and became General Partner of Rondo Ventures, a company that invests in early-stage companies providing capital for growth and expertise in helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses. Matt cofounded Canpango, a global Salesforce implementation and development partner with offices in North America, Europe, and Africa and successfully lead the company to acquisition by ScanSource (a fortune 1000 company) in August of 2018. Matt was the CEO and Founder of Corvica where he grew Corvisa's cloud contact center and platform as a service business prior to selling the company to Shoretel (a publicly traded company) in 2015.A serial entrepreneur, Matt brings 20+ years of SaaS, software, telecom and contact center experience to Neostella. Other career highlights include serving as Founder and CEO of a Cloud Contact Center solution that was acquired by Shoretel/Mitel and a Salesforce implementation practice which was acquired by a fortune 1000.

Matt Lautz

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting Matt Lautz is the CEO & Owner of Neostella, a software implementation and consulting firm specializing in RPA and ...

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Jon Arnold Jon Arnold

Principal, J Arnold & Associates

Click here to request a meetingAs principal of J Arnold & Associates, Jon is an independent research analyst providing thought ...

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12 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Jon-Arnold 0 503566 503566

Jon Arnold

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingAs principal of J Arnold & Associates, Jon is an independent research analyst providing thought leadership and ...

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Logan Kipp Logan Kipp

Director of Sales SiteLock

Click here to request a meetingLogan Kipp serves as SiteLock's Director of Sales engineering, focusing on the technical integrations with ...

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13 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Logan-Kipp jplist-topic-SiteLock 0 509860 509860 Click here to request a meetingLogan Kipp serves as SiteLock's Director of Sales engineering, focusing on the technical integrations with the company's strategic partners. Logan has over twelve years of experience in the application security and cloud services industries, including nine years at SiteLock. Prior to joining SiteLock, Logan spent three years as a security consultant in the mass-market website hosting space. Logan holds certifications in penetration testing and information security."

Logan Kipp

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingLogan Kipp serves as SiteLock's Director of Sales engineering, focusing on the technical integrations with the ...

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Stuart Discount Stuart Discount

Brand Ambassador, BPESA

Click here to request a meetingStuart Discount currently serves as a brand ambassador for BPESA, a not-for-profit company that serves as ...

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14 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-BPESA jplist-topic-Global jplist-topic-business jplist-topic-PACE 0 504893 504893 Click here to request a meetingStuart Discount currently serves as a brand ambassador for BPESA, a not-for-profit company that serves as the industry body and trade association for Global Business Services in South Africa. Its purpose is to market South Africa to the world as an attractive place to offshore their business processes, thereby stimulating local job creation. Stuart has a long career in the contact center industry opening his own contact center 1 2 1 Direct Response growing to over 1,000 employees. After selling the company, he became an executive for Allied Global, a Guatemalan-owned contact center company with sites in the US and Central America. For over 30 years Stuart was an active member of PACE (Professional Association for Customer Engagement) and chaired the Government Affairs Committee representing the association in front of regulators and legislators on issues affecting contact centers. He served several terms as Chairman, led to Stuart being hired as Chief Executive Officer in November 2017. Under Stuarts's leadership, PACE has increased their stature as the voice of the contact industry. Often interviewed by news organizations, meeting with regulators and legislators Stuart continues to represent the contact center industry on a continuing basis.

Stuart Discount

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingStuart Discount currently serves as a brand ambassador for BPESA, a not-for-profit company that serves as the industry ...

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Teddy Liaw Teddy Liaw

CEO, NexRep

Click here to request a meetingTeddy Liaw is the CEO of NexRep, growing the company under his leadership into one of the largest virtual ...

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15 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-NexRep jplist-topic-sales jplist-topic-business-development jplist-topic-marketing 0 504894 504894 Click here to request a meetingTeddy Liaw is the CEO of NexRep, growing the company under his leadership into one of the largest virtual at-home marketplaces in the industry. Teddy has ~20 years of technology and contact center expertise. Prior to NexRep, he managed the agent business unit at LiveOps, and previously held roles at Levi Strauss and Company, Canon Computer Systems, and TEK-Pacific. He is a recognized thought-leader on the future of work; Liaw was appointed by CA Governor Newsom on his CA Entrepreneur Task Force, guided federal legislators on policy, and currently serves on contact center advisory boards. Liaw graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Business Administration and BA in Ethnic Studies.

Teddy Liaw

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingTeddy Liaw is the CEO of NexRep, growing the company under his leadership into one of the largest virtual at-home ...

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Darlene Geller-Stoff Darlene Geller-Stoff

VP of Litigation Services, Compliance Point

Click here to request a meetingWith three decades of experience in sales, direct marketing and contact center operations Ms. Geller-Stoff ...

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16 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-business-development jplist-topic-Direct-Communication-Specialists jplist-topic-contact-center-operations jplist-topic-Litigation-Services jplist-topic-ATA jplist-topic-PACE jplist-topic-SOCAP jplist-topic-SCTC 0 504897 504897 Click here to request a meetingWith three decades of experience in sales, direct marketing and contact center operations Ms. Geller-Stoff has advised Fortune 500 companies and executed hundreds of successful projects. Her company, Direct Communication Specialists, helps companies to build successful customer care, direct response marketing and sales programs and contact center operations. Ms. Geller-Stoff is frequently a featured speaker at conferences and corporate meetings (ATA, PACE, SOCAP, IPQC, DMA, Call Center Demo & Conference) and has been published in a number of internationally recognized magazines and newspapers. She is a past president of both the Southeastern Chapter of PACE and the Georgia Chapter of the Society for Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP).Ms. Geller-Stoff is also an expert witness certified in Federal Court and in her new role with CompliancePoint Litigation Services provides consulting support and expert opinions for cases related to Contact Center operations, privacy, TCPA issues.

Darlene Geller-Stoff

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meetingWith three decades of experience in sales, direct marketing and contact center operations Ms. Geller-Stoff has advised ...

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George Leith George Leith

Chief Customer Officer and EVP of Sales for Vendasta

Click here to request a meeting George Leith is the Chief Customer Officer and EVP of Sales for Vendasta, the leading end-to-end e-commerce ...

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17 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-George-Leith jplist-topic-Vendasta 0 510441 510441 Click here to request a meeting George Leith is the Chief Customer Officer and EVP of Sales for Vendasta, the leading end-to-end e-commerce platform. He leads a team of more than 200 professionals, dedicated to ensuring the success of a global stable of vendors, channel partners, and end users. George provides training, education, and mentorship to an ever-growing base of more than 40,000 business owners, sales leaders, and sales professionals who make up Vendasta's channel partner community. Vendasta's vendor and partner network provides digital solutions in 10 languages to four million businesses worldwide. George's track record of success in technology, media, channel sales models, and marketing spans 35 years. He has been a keynote speaker at conferences and seminars around the world. He also founded and launched the Conquer Local podcast to educate business professionals on sales, digital marketing, and local business success. The podcast has since expanded into an online community, think tank, training academy, and marquee event. George helps businesses transform their operations, finance, sales, and marketing to meet complex customer needs. He believes servant leadership and coaching frameworks are the best ways to motivate and improve performance for the organizations with whom he works.

George Leith

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting George Leith is the Chief Customer Officer and EVP of Sales for Vendasta, the leading end-to-end e-commerce platform. ...

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Andrew Pryfogle Andrew Pryfogle

Founder & CEO of CX Effect. A Master CX Integrator

Click here to request a meeting CX Effect is built to help partners build full-stack CX solutions for their medium enterprise customers. As ...

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18 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Andrew-Pryfogle jplist-topic-CX-Effect 0 508602 508602 Click here to request a meeting CX Effect is built to help partners build full-stack CX solutions for their medium enterprise customers. As a turn-key integrator, CX Effect brings deep expertise from pre-sales engineering all the way through fully integrated, implemented and supported solutions. Pryfogle recently served as Chief Market Development Officer at Pax8 with responsibility for partner education and launching Pax8's co-managed IT initiative into the agent channel. Founder of Cloud Services University and Super9, the channel's leading source for cloud sales education with over 5,000 registrants. 82% of Intelisys Cloud wins came from Cloud Service University attendees and grew annual cloud billings from $2m in 2012 to >$300m in 2018.

Andrew Pryfogle

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting CX Effect is built to help partners build full-stack CX solutions for their medium enterprise customers. As a ...

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Mike Cromwell Mike Cromwell

Managing Partner, EagleTEQ Advisors

Click here to request a meeting Mike is a results oriented, passionate, high energy, driven, award winning ...

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19 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-mike-cromwell 0 509229 509229 Click here to request a meeting Mike is a results oriented, passionate, high energy, driven, award winning senior executive with 30 years' experience delivering revenue growth and successfully executing business plans. Mike C-Level experience across multiple areas of expertise including operations, product management, and finance. A seasoned executive sales and marketing leader with a track record of driving revenue growth and creating valuation increases for shareholders and owners, Mike has demonstrated success in a wide range of technology businesses ranging from start-up software as a service to large global service providers. He has deep experience leading teams across multiple distribution channels and every customer segment with a track record of building world-class, high performance organizations.

Mike Cromwell

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting Mike is a results oriented, passionate, high energy, driven, award winning senior ...

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Ronnie Cannon Ronnie Cannon

Managing Director, Wm. Leonard & Co.

Click here to request a meeting With more than 20 years in the real estate profession, Ronnie's expertise and encompasses ...

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20 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Ronnie-Cannon 0 509232 509232 Click here to request a meeting With more than 20 years in the real estate profession, Ronnie's expertise and encompasses a variety of assignments including acquisition, disposition, relocation, consolidation, portfolio evaluation and sublease services. In Ronnie's real estate career, he has assisted in over 250 client transactions representing over $250 million in volume. Over the past 13 years, he has co-managed a number of significant national clients assisting with transactions in over 35 states. Prior to joining WM Leonard and Co., Ronnie spent 14 years at Cresa Atlanta and was an associate for CBRE in Columbia, South Carolina, his hometown. He earned his B.S. in accounting at Presbyterian College, where he lettered in basketball all four years. He continues his involvement as an active member in the Scotsman's Cub. Ronnie currently resides in Roswell and is actively engaged in the community with his three children's sports activities and attends Perimeter Church.

Ronnie Cannon

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting With more than 20 years in the real estate profession, Ronnie's expertise and encompasses a variety ...

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Aakash Kumar Aakash Kumar

Founder & CEO of Shiftsmart

Click here to request a meeting Aakash Kumar founded Shiftsmart to execute his vision of empowering today's rapidly expanding labor ...

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21 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-Shiftsmart jplist-topic-aakash-kumar 0 508713 508713 Click here to request a meeting Aakash Kumar founded Shiftsmart to execute his vision of empowering today's rapidly expanding labor workforce to maximize their employment opportunities and help usher in a future where they can work exclusively based on their preferences. Kumar's forward-thinking vision and leadership places him at the forefront of addressing profound changes impacting labor markets worldwide with his goal of revolutionizing the modern labor market and increasing the quality of life for the global workforce. Along with his strategic and thought leadership, Kumar is responsible for developing and ensuring that Shiftsmart's "People-First" philosophy is pervasive throughout all aspects of the company's relationships and technology. Prior to founding Shiftsmart, Kumar was Cloud Business Operations and Strategy Lead at Google, working on behalf of the executive leadership team, where he specialized in the labor dynamics of managing staffing companies and large distributed workforces.

Aakash Kumar

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting Aakash Kumar founded Shiftsmart to execute his vision of empowering today's rapidly expanding labor workforce to ...

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Rick Beckers Rick Beckers

CEO, XaaS1

Click here to request a meeting With more than 40 years of hands-on industry experience, Rick Beckers is an expert in all ...

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22 Speaker-Profile-Speaker-Profile jplist-topic-rick-beckers 0 509231 509231 Click here to request a meeting With more than 40 years of hands-on industry experience, Rick Beckers is an expert in all things related to business automation. He's spent years managing a variety of technology solutions, including designing, installing, and supporting the offering long after the sale. Thanks to Rick's breadth and depth of knowledge, XaaS1 has become the leading technology-as-a-service provider across the US for vendors, agents, and their corporate customers. And now things have evolved so that it is all available "As-a-Service." On January 1, 2019 he launched a revolutionary company, XaaS1, that provides all things "Technology-as-a-Service. It's a new Industry 4.0 era of digital transformation and I'm out in front riding the wave!His specialties include but are not limited to: Cloud & Traditional Computer networking (LAN, WAN, & Wireless), Telecommunications, Analog & VoIP Telephony, Analog & IP Video Surveillance, Internet-of-Things, Technology-as-a-Service, & Outsourced CIO.

Rick Beckers

Speaker Profile

Click here to request a meeting With more than 40 years of hands-on industry experience, Rick Beckers is an expert in all things ...

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Everything you need to know about the Global... Everything you need to know about the Global...

March 24, 2021 by Linda Lacina

Report by the World Economic Forum; written by Linda Lacina. March 24, 2021. The pandemic has sparked disruptive global change - and the ...

IT Services Trends
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23 IT-Services-Trends-IT-Services-Trends jplist-topic-cloud jplist-topic-services jplist-topic-it jplist-topic-tech jplist-topic-outsource jplist-topic-content jplist-topic-deliver jplist-topic-govern jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-emerging jplist-topic-transform 0 506554 506554 Report by the World Economic Forum; written by Linda Lacina. March 24, 2021. The pandemic has sparked disruptive global change - and the rapid adoption of disruptive technologies. While these solutions are addressing critical needs in the present, they may also raise major concerns over the long term, if not deployed in a responsible way.. Many leaders who spoke at this year's Davos Agenda meeting understood that, saying innovations should be embraced, but in a way that ensures things such as fair access and security. At the World Economic Forum's first Global Technology Governance Summit, leaders from more than 125 governments and 600 companies (as well as more than 2,000 participants) will convene to discuss the steps that must be made to harness the latest technologies for our greatest challenges in the fairest and most responsible ways through public-private cooperation. "The goal of the Forum's inaugural GTGS is to create a shared neutral space where we can discuss the governance and protocols surrounding new emerging and frontier technologies, and to share those insights with policymakers while connecting in those voices of innovators, entrepreneurs and civil society who are actually experimenting with these new technologies," says Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director & Head of the Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). What is GTGS? The inaugural GTGS comes at a pivotal moment. Technologies have advanced to the point where solutions to long-held problems can be truly scalable. At the same time, these burgeoning technologies, still in their early phases, must be designed in a way that addresses problems rather than exacerbates them for true survival and sustainability. Leaders will discuss technology's evolution with three pillars in mind: the readiness for a healthy future; true resilience for companies, countries and regions; and how every stakeholder can help reimagine how business is done. Themes will include: Industry Transformation: As every company becomes a technology company, businesses will need to find new ways to share growth, share insights and collaborate. Government Transformation: As technology services become an essential public utility (comparable to electricity, water, or roadways), governments must consider how to build and maintain this new digital infrastructure. Global Technology Governance: To maximize technology's benefits, we must mitigate risks and develop policies, norms, standards, and incentives that shape its responsible development and deployment. Frontier Technologies: Embracing frontier technologies will be essential across all sectors, revolutionizing supply chains, enabling mass customization and offering new pathways to increase the circularity of products. and halt environmental damage and climate change. Beyond these themes, co-chairs will shape the agenda of the summit. Reflecting the multifaceted, global nature of the challenges we face, the summit has brought together leaders from a diverse range of voices and backgrounds, who can speak with fresh perspectives.

Everything you need to know about the Global Technology Governance Summit

IT Services Trends

Report by the World Economic Forum; written by Linda Lacina. March 24, 2021. The pandemic has sparked disruptive global change - and the rapid ...

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IT outsourcing to surge in 2021 IT outsourcing to surge in 2021

April 19, 2021 by Allen Bernard

Article written by Allen Bernard and published by CIO Dive on April 19, 2021. As COVID-19 brought the worldwide economy to a sudden and ...

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24 IT-Services-Trends-IT-Services-Trends jplist-topic-cloud jplist-topic-it jplist-topic-services jplist-topic-emerging jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-2020 jplist-topic-new jplist-topic-adapt jplist-topic-update jplist-topic-covid jplist-topic-coronavirus 0 506546 506546 Article written by Allen Bernard and published by CIO Dive on April 19, 2021. As COVID-19 brought the worldwide economy to a sudden and screeching halt, businesses of all shapes and sizes found themselves adrift in uncharted waters. To stay afloat, most businesses dramatically accelerated their digital transformation efforts.  In typical times, this also would have led to an increased reliance on IT outsourcers, according to a survey by the Boston Consulting Group of 200 selected companies across industries.  "Many companies were forced to take unprecedented steps to survive: 79% said that they asked service providers for help in some form, such as longer payment terms (47%), price reductions (45%), or free support for more processes or additional services (41%)," the survey authors said in a blog post about the survey. But, like most everything else in 2020, what one would expect to happen, did not. Because of the fear, uncertainty and doubt sowed by the pandemic, businesses began hoarding cash, while cutting expenses to the bare minimum. These efforts were not uniform, however.  To manage the transition to remote work and online customer engagement and order fulfillment, many businesses increased spending on cloud, particularly software as a service (SaaS). (The now-familiar headlines of video conferencing provider Zoom growing by 300% almost overnight were hard to miss.)  This continued through the first three quarters of 2020 but began to turnaround late last year, as the global economy became more predictable, said Kevin Parikh, CEO of Avasant, an outsourcing advisory and management consulting firm. "Shock and awe and fear happened in [first three] quarters of 2020. And then there was a recognition that big investments were needed in the fourth quarter to transform, to survive. I have one client who told me they went from zero to 50,000 global video calls a day - 50,000 a day - by flipping a switch," he said. Cuts in IT outsourcing spend due to the pandemic eased from $83 billion in the spring to $31 billion at the end of 2020, said Gunjan Gupta, a principal research analyst at Gartner. "Some of the service providers, they are reporting even double-digit growth," she said. "I think the acceleration is going to continue for the rest of 2021 and 2022." Global IT spending on end-user services is forecast to grow 4.4% to $1.19 billion in 2021, according to Gupta. This is compared to a spending reduction of 2.6% in 2020. That is just the tip of a very big iceberg.  After contracting 4.6% in 2020 to $490 million, worldwide IT spending on consulting and implementation services are predicted to experience a 4.5% CAGR through 2024. While worldwide spending on IT-centric managed services, infrastructure, and application support, which decreased 1.1% in 2020 to $475 million, will see a CAGR of 5.3% through 2024.  Higher value-add The pandemic also changed what companies want from their outsourcing providers, said Brett Sparks, senior director analyst, Sourcing, Procurement & Vendor Management at Gartner. Pre-pandemic, companies were often narrowly focused on outsourcing specific services (such as helpdesk), infrastructure and storage, or tasks such as network monitoring and management. Now, with digital transformation efforts still very much top-of-mind and existential, organizations are looking for more than just five-nines of uptime or to save money on labor costs. "It's outcomes from two different perspectives," he said. "It's a cost avoidance ... and it's also getting a business to truly sit down [and answer the question], 'What does digital transformation mean to you?'" Because digital transformation means different things to different people and morphs industry to industry and company to company, most CEOs and even CIOs struggle to summarize it for their organizations, he said.  "Larger firms that have full-time staff devoted to ... IT operations are more keen to bring in technology consultants and advisors for strategic guidance, and large project execution," said Fred Chagnon, a principal research director with Info-Tech Research Group.  Near-shoring in high demand Leaning on outsourcers for more than just a fixed set of pre-defined deliverables is necessitating the need for real-time collaboration, said Gupta. Organizations are now looking for providers in similar time zones so they can engage in co-creation. In co-creation, instead of sending out an RFP, a company works with a group of outsourcers from the outset to brainstorm ideas and develop solutions.  As a result, outsourcers are opening offices in lower-cost countries south of the U.S., including Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia. For outsourcers focused on the European market, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic serve similar roles.  Here to stay The move to near-shore delivery based on time-zones is likely a long-term trend as newer paradigm shifting technologies like 5G, mixed reality, AI/ML, robotic process automation (RPA) and host of others become commonplace. And, since waiting to catch the digital transformation bus has proven, for many companies, to be a costly mistake exposed by the pandemic, businesses will need all the help they can get integrating these technologies into their day-to-day operations.  "What are [companies] doing now?", said Avasant's Parikh. "Well, the change is really happening in 2021. We're still outsourcing all that traditional stuff that we've been outsourcing since 2000-2002. It's still happening the old way, but now we're putting a layer of transformation on top of it that's getting us access to new technology, new platforms and ways of connecting with our clients and customers in a different way."

IT outsourcing to surge in 2021

IT Services Trends

Article written by Allen Bernard and published by CIO Dive on April 19, 2021. As COVID-19 brought the worldwide economy to a sudden and screeching ...

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Digital transformation: 3 driving trends for 2021 Digital transformation: 3 driving trends for 2021

March 9, 2021 by Bernd Gross

Article posted March 9, 2021 by Bernd Gross, CTO of Software AG. For the past ten years, digital transformationRedirects to external site. ...

IT Services Trends
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25 IT-Services-Trends-IT-Services-Trends jplist-topic-internet jplist-topic-updates jplist-topic-trending jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-telecom jplist-topic-customer jplist-topic-2021 0 505916 505916 Article posted March 9, 2021 by Bernd Gross, CTO of Software AG. For the past ten years, digital transformationRedirects to external site. moved at a relatively slow pace, focusing mainly on improving products, processes, and the employee experience. Then COVID-19 hit, forcing IT decision-makers to prioritize their IT initiatives and increase digital investments. Our researchOpens in new window and redirects to external site. at Software AG showed that companies in 2020 were evenly split on where they invested their optimization efforts, with external initiatives around services beating internal initiatives. Organizations had to take dramatic steps to keep businesses afloat, which meant prioritizing growing customer demands amidst pandemic lockdowns. As companies continue to cope with the effects of COVID-19 and the expected increase in customer expectations, they will also likely flip the switch on digital transformation, so the impact is directly felt by their customer base. Here are three key trends that will enable companies to make the switch. 1. Transformation is ready to mean transformation again At the height of the pandemic, companies were forced to innovate - and do so quickly - to continue operations and serve customers. Ninety-seven percentOpens in new window and redirects to external site. of global IT professionals we surveyed agreed they went through some sort of digital transformation in 2020, with three out of five saying they went through a "large amount" of change. With companies prioritizing tech investments to benefit customers, enhancing customer support, and implementing technology like Robotic Process AutomationRedirects to external site. (RPA) to improve customer service, they shocked transformation efforts back into action. Now, the same number of global professionals expect to continue transformation efforts in 2021. The pandemic forced companies' hands, but the massive change means they're now poised to use technology to transform the world around them. 2. Generational change will change business behavior As Gen Z becomes more influential, companies will need to transform to meet their expectations. In 2020, many Generation Zers (born between 1997 and 2015) graduated college and entered the workforce, experiencing a completely remote and digital onboarding process. At the same time, Millennials (born between 1981-1997) are beginning to come into their own in the workplace, growing into decision-making roles. While Generation Xers still hold the power in many organizations, these two milestones represent a generational shift that's driving a change in business practices and behavior. These digital natives perceive and interact with technology in different ways than their predecessors. They bring an expectation that technology will help employees on a day-to-day basis through real-life applications and view software as "must-haves" rather than "nice-to-haves." Younger generations want to go far beyond the basics of technology to optimize and drive value. As a result, we'll likely see a noticeable evolution where relatively "basic" technology - like Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) - will become integral to key initiatives. As Gen Z becomes more influential, companies will need to transform to meet their expectations around better, more consistent experiences, seamless customer service, and control over interactions. 3. Resilience-building technology is more important than big-bang innovation Companies faced unprecedented uncertainty and instability throughout 2020, with technology investments focused on returning to near-normal or maintaining some level of stability. In 2021, they'll need to do the "simple" things using technology better to make their organizations more resilient. For example, many enterprises manage a wide variety of systems and devices, but not all have mastered integrating existing applications, cloud services, or infrastructure. Data integration is important for enterprises to enable insights and analytics to make quick, agile business decisions. In fact, data and analytics and integration are seen as some of the top technologies organizations will prioritize this year. As companies continue to deal with the fallout of the pandemic, the driving forces will be the technologies poised to strengthen overall business resiliency, especially against very real business threats like recession, health crises, and competitors. One of the big lessons of 2020 is the need for resiliency in the face of unpredictable situations. Business and IT executives forged ahead and invested in digital technology. No one can predict with certainty what will happen next, but businesses overwhelmingly believe technology will enable them to be more resilient in the face of uncertainty. 

Digital transformation: 3 driving trends for 2021

IT Services Trends

Article posted March 9, 2021 by Bernd Gross, CTO of Software AG. For the past ten years, digital transformationRedirects to external site. moved at a ...

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Top 8 trends shaping digital transformation in... Top 8 trends shaping digital transformation in...

December 7, 2020 by Vala Afshar, Salesforce Chief Digital Evangelist

Article posted December 7, 2020 by Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist for Salesforce IT's role is more critical than ever in a world ...

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26 IT-Services-Trends-IT-Services-Trends jplist-topic-sales jplist-topic-salesforce jplist-topic-computer jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-2021 0 505883 505883

Top 8 trends shaping digital transformation in 2021

IT Services Trends

Article posted December 7, 2020 by Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist for Salesforce IT's role is more critical than ever in a world that's ...

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Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends For 2021 Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends For 2021

September 21, 2020 by Daniel Newman, CMO Network

From the Forbes article posted on September 21, 2020 by Daniel Newman, CMO Network No one could have predicted where 2020 would take us: ...

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27 IT-Services-Trends-IT-Services-Trends jplist-topic-internet jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-future jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation 0 505914 505914

Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends For 2021

IT Services Trends

From the Forbes article posted on September 21, 2020 by Daniel Newman, CMO Network No one could have predicted where 2020 would take us: The last six ...

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Top 5 digital transformation trends of 2021 Top 5 digital transformation trends of 2021

Published March 9, 2021 by Isaac Sacolick, StarCIO

Article published March 9, 2021 by Isaac Sacolick, StarCIOThe year 2020 will go down as the period when organizations responded to new ...

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28 Digital-Transformation-Trends-Digital-Transformation-Trends jplist-topic-internet jplist-topic-online jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-it jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-technology 0 505892 505892

Top 5 digital transformation trends of 2021

Digital Transformation Trends

Article published March 9, 2021 by Isaac Sacolick, StarCIOThe year 2020 will go down as the period when organizations responded to new risks, pivoted ...

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85+ Digital Transformation Stats from reputable... 85+ Digital Transformation Stats from reputable...

January 23, 2021 by Cem Dilmegani

Article published January 23, 2021 by Cem Dilmegani, Founder AIMultiple Digital Transformation Forecasts According to most research and ...

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29 Digital-Transformation-Trends-Digital-Transformation-Trends jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-it jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-new 0 505871 505871

85+ Digital Transformation Stats from reputable sources

Digital Transformation Trends

Article published January 23, 2021 by Cem Dilmegani, Founder AIMultiple Digital Transformation Forecasts According to most research and consulting ...

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31 Digital Transformation Statistics for 2021... 31 Digital Transformation Statistics for 2021...

December 4, 2020 by Anish Sthapit

Article published December 4, 2020 by Anish Sthapit, Leapfrog What does digital transformation (DX) look like in 2021? The need for digital ...

Digital Transformation Trends
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30 Digital-Transformation-Trends-Digital-Transformation-Trends jplist-topic-internet jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-it jplist-topic-computer jplist-topic-new jplist-topic-data jplist-topic-digital 0 505846 505846

31 Digital Transformation Statistics for 2021 that Every Business should know

Digital Transformation Trends

Article published December 4, 2020 by Anish Sthapit, Leapfrog What does digital transformation (DX) look like in 2021? The need for digital ...

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9 Forrester Digital Transformation Statistics You... 9 Forrester Digital Transformation Statistics You...

October 29, 2020 by Ellen Christenberry

Article published October 29, 2020 by Ellen Christenberry, Sharpen Technologies Inc. Digital transformation is about ditching tired tactics ...

Digital Transformation Trends
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31 Digital-Transformation-Trends-Digital-Transformation-Trends jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-transformation jplist-topic-digita jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-future jplist-topic-2021 0 505841 505841

9 Forrester Digital Transformation Statistics You Must Know to Give Your Customers the Digital Customer Experience they Demand

Digital Transformation Trends

Article published October 29, 2020 by Ellen Christenberry, Sharpen Technologies Inc. Digital transformation is about ditching tired tactics and ...

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The Digital Workplace for 2021 and Beyond The Digital Workplace for 2021 and Beyond

Ensuring that your workforce is informed and connected is the key to the success of all your business initiatives and goals. Learn how the ...

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32 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-digital 0 504279 504279 Ensuring that your workforce is informed and connected is the key to the success of all your business initiatives and goals. Learn how the Digital Workplace is bringing it all together.Click here to view the article

The Digital Workplace for 2021 and Beyond

Workplace Trends

Ensuring that your workforce is informed and connected is the key to the success of all your business initiatives and goals. Learn how the Digital ...

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What's on the 2021 Digital Workplace Vendor... What's on the 2021 Digital Workplace Vendor...

So maybe Zoom was kind of the big winner in terms of software to help power digital workplaces in 2020. What will win in 2021? "I'm ...

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33 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-digital jplist-topic-vendor 0 504276 504276 So maybe Zoom was kind of the big winner in terms of software to help power digital workplaces in 2020. What will win in 2021? "I'm expecting to see more interest in desk and room booking software to accommodate hybrid workforces and the return to work in 2021," said Andrew Hewitt, Forrester analyst who specializes in employee technology experience, digital workspaces and remote work. "Also, increased focus on collecting qualitative feedback within digital workplace solutions and also merging that with quantitative information about the technology experience."Click here to view the article

What's on the 2021 Digital Workplace Vendor Roadmap?

Workplace Trends

So maybe Zoom was kind of the big winner in terms of software to help power digital workplaces in 2020. What will win in 2021? "I'm expecting to see ...

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What Will Typical Workplaces Look Like In 2021? What Will Typical Workplaces Look Like In 2021?

The past couple of years have put unprecedented stress on most businesses around the globe. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, lockdowns, ...

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34 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 0 504275 504275 The past couple of years have put unprecedented stress on most businesses around the globe. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, lockdowns, and a global recession looming large, many organizations are busy redefining the 'new' workplace. While this evolution is normal, keeping up with all the economic changes, advancement in technology, and modern workplace trends can be challenging.Click here to view the article

What Will Typical Workplaces Look Like In 2021?

Workplace Trends

The past couple of years have put unprecedented stress on most businesses around the globe. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, lockdowns, and a ...

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2021 Top Workplace Tech Trends and Statistics 2021 Top Workplace Tech Trends and Statistics

The future is optimistic for workplace tech, but what can we expect to see in 2021? We have already made our predictions specific to ...

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35 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-tech jplist-topic-stats 0 504273 504273 The future is optimistic for workplace tech, but what can we expect to see in 2021? We have already made our predictions specific to service management, but there are five trends to watch for in regard to workplace tech initiatives and digital transformation in the coming year.Click here to view the article

2021 Top Workplace Tech Trends and Statistics

Workplace Trends

The future is optimistic for workplace tech, but what can we expect to see in 2021? We have already made our predictions specific to service ...

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Paul Miller's digital workplace predictions for... Paul Miller's digital workplace predictions for...

When the global pandemic took hold in the early months of 2020, an unintended but significant consequence was that we would suddenly embark ...

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36 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-paul-miller 0 504271 504271 When the global pandemic took hold in the early months of 2020, an unintended but significant consequence was that we would suddenly embark on the largest shift in where work happens since the Industrial Revolution. In that instance, the transformation from agricultural/rural work to factory/urban work happened over decades, while in 2020 almost half of all workforces in developed economies left the physical workplace and started to work from home, pretty much overnight. This was described as "acceleration", a word that doesn't quite capture the intensity and speed of this work revolution.Click here to view the article

Paul Miller's digital workplace predictions for 2021

Workplace Trends

When the global pandemic took hold in the early months of 2020, an unintended but significant consequence was that we would suddenly embark on the ...

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Workplace Technology 2021: Five Trends That Could... Workplace Technology 2021: Five Trends That Could...

To say 2020 has been an incredible year for technology is an understatement. Technology took center stage when the global pandemic rocked ...

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37 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-technology 0 504270 504270 To say 2020 has been an incredible year for technology is an understatement. Technology took center stage when the global pandemic rocked the world of work by pushing employees from the office to their homes, as IT quickly mobilized to keep people engaged and productive. Trends aimed at fueling digital transformation that was already in play accelerated at warp speed and kept business moving. The stage is set for more radical change in the way work gets done in the year ahead. What can we expect?Click here to view the article

Workplace Technology 2021: Five Trends That Could Change The Way We Get Things Done

Workplace Trends

To say 2020 has been an incredible year for technology is an understatement. Technology took center stage when the global pandemic rocked the world ...

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The Future of Work: Workplace Technology Trends... The Future of Work: Workplace Technology Trends...

If there is one thing everyone can agree upon, it's this: 2020 was full of surprises. From a global pandemic that has upended the way we ...

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38 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-technology 0 504269 504269 If there is one thing everyone can agree upon, it's this: 2020 was full of surprises. From a global pandemic that has upended the way we live and work to a presidential election that has divided the nation - it's hard to predict what the next year holds. When it comes to the future of work, however, some certainties remain, chiefly: Technological innovation will continue in support of a remote workforce, and enterprise technology companies will drive this change to best serve people and how they work every day. What workplace technology trends can we expect to see in 2021 and beyond? We bring you predictions from the two best crystal-ballers in the business: atSpoke co-founders Jay Srinivasan and Pratyus Patnaik. Read on for a look at the future.Click here to view the article

The Future of Work: Workplace Technology Trends in 2021 and Beyond

Workplace Trends

If there is one thing everyone can agree upon, it's this: 2020 was full of surprises. From a global pandemic that has upended the way we live and ...

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The 6 Best Digital Workplace Trends to Know For... The 6 Best Digital Workplace Trends to Know For...

We've been preparing for the digital shift for years, and the pandemic finally tipped the scale. Organizations had no choice but to ...

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39 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-remote jplist-topic-digital 0 504267 504267 We've been preparing for the digital shift for years, and the pandemic finally tipped the scale. Organizations had no choice but to implement new business models and new technologies to support working from home and to stay ahead of the curve. Gartner predicts that soon, the greatest competitive advantage for 30% of companies worldwide will come from their ability to implement new technologies and digital workplace technology trends creatively. If you want your organization to be among them, now is the time to consider how you can use emerging solutions to your advantage. Here are six top digital workplace trends that will become more prominent in the coming year, according to Gartner's analysts.Click here to view the article

The 6 Best Digital Workplace Trends to Know For 2021

Workplace Trends

We've been preparing for the digital shift for years, and the pandemic finally tipped the scale. Organizations had no choice but to implement new ...

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Digital Workplace Trends for 2021 Digital Workplace Trends for 2021

Take a closer look at the office technology trends for 2021 that will ...

It should come as little surprise that the coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerated digital transformation in 2020. Although we were ...

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40 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-workplace jplist-topic-trends jplist-topic-2021 jplist-topic-technology jplist-topic-remote 0 504266 504266 It should come as little surprise that the coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerated digital transformation in 2020. Although we were certainly immersed in technology at work and beyond previously, last year made technology a more vital part of our lives than ever before. As we look ahead to 2021, CDW's experts predict that these technological advancements and adjustments will continue to move along at a rapid clip. In many ways, 2020 was a time for finding quick technology fixes in order to keep businesses running smoothly and ensure employees were equipped for remote work. Now we will take a closer look at the office technology trends for 2021 that will improve and maximize the tools fueling our new reality. CDW's Senior Manager of Research and Insights Operations Walker VanArsdale and Director of Collaboration Solutions Nathan Coutinho shared their outlook on what technology will be big for businesses in 2021-both from a macro-level and from the perspective of what businesses will need to keep their employees comfortable and productive and their data secure.Click here to view the article

Digital Workplace Trends for 2021

Workplace Trends

It should come as little surprise that the coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerated digital transformation in 2020. Although we were certainly ...

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9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2021 and Beyond 9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2021 and Beyond

It's fair to say that 2020 rocked many organizations and business models, upending priorities and plans as business leaders scrambled to ...

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41 Workplace-Trends-Workplace-Trends jplist-topic-business jplist-topic-hybrid jplist-topic-workforce jplist-topic-legal jplist-topic-remote 0 504264 504264

9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2021 and Beyond

Workplace Trends

It's fair to say that 2020 rocked many organizations and business models, upending priorities and plans as business leaders scrambled to navigate a ...

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The Evolution of the B2B Buying Process The Evolution of the B2B Buying Process

Published by BigCommerce

From the article: The Evolution of the B2B Buying Process published by BigCommerceBefore we go any further, let's daydream a bit, shall ...

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42 Buying-Journey-Buying-Journey jplist-topic-Buying-Journey 0 504246 504246

The Evolution of the B2B Buying Process

Buying Journey

From the article: The Evolution of the B2B Buying Process published by BigCommerceBefore we go any further, let's daydream a bit, shall we?Picture ...

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B2B Buying Trends for 2021: Latest Research B2B Buying Trends for 2021: Latest Research

Published by Webbiquity on October 13, 2020

From the article: B2B Buying Trends for 2021: Latest Research published by Webbiquity 2020 has been an "interesting" year for for B2B ...

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43 Buying-Journey-Buying-Journey jplist-topic-Buying-Journey 0 504221 504221 From the article: B2B Buying Trends for 2021: Latest Research published by Webbiquity 2020 has been an "interesting" year for for B2B marketers and buyers alike, to say the least. But now that companies have adjusted their processes and plans, what does the outlook for 2021 look like? How have plans changed since the third quarter? Two recent research reports provide useful insights. Findings from Spiceworks Ziff Davis and Google generally indicate buyers have a cautious optimism about the year ahead, though the pandemic has clearly impacted both the level and type of technology investments businesses are planning for 2021. Here are six of the most important findings about buying trends and plans for B2B marketers. The revenue and spending outlook remains positive-though not as positive as recent years. Despite the human and economic toll taken by the coronavirus, 59% of business buyers expect their company's revenue to remain steady or increase next year. That finding, from The 2021 State of IT: The Annual Report on IT Budgets and Tech Trends produced by Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD), is certainly positive-though down from more than 80% in 2019 and the beginning of 2020. More optimistically, according to the SWZD report, "80% of businesses in North America and Europe anticipate year-over-year tech spending to stay the same or increase." The impact for B2B marketers is that there may be slightly less demand in the coming year, but still significant potential for those who truly understand and address buyer needs. And, of course, there are many factors could impact this outlook: a vaccine for COVID-19, another stimulus package, the economic policies pursued by whatever administration is in place after November 3rd, etc.. Stay flexible. The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation initiatives. Interest in digital transformation has been gradually increasing over the past five years. But the SWZD research found that COVID-19 has acted as a "catalyst" for transformation, with 76% of businesses planning long-term IT and business process changes. The 2021 State of IT report further states: COVID-19 has driven businesses around the globe to transform to enable remote workforces, adopt digital workflows, optimize business operations, and innovate to meet the needs of a new market. Many of these changes will be permanent and will continue to influence tech purchases in 2021." Flexible work arrangements--where employees spend some days in the office and some working remotely-will be permanent in many organizations.  This is driving increased investments in software for data and network security, communications, and employee self-service portals. Transformative does not necessarily, however, mean big, disruptive new systems and projects. As the report states, "In 2021, emerging tech adoption plans will cool off considerably, with many organizations grappling with optimizing existing operations...instead of trying to take on experimental projects that might not offer immediate return on investment. " Think less AI and VR, more practical investments in proven technology that can drive incremental improvement in service delivery and workflow automation. B2B tech budget priorities are shifting. Companies in the SWZD study plan to allocate close to 30% of their total IT budgets to software in 2021, in line with the past couple of years. They will spend relatively more on cloud services and managed services, and a bit less on hardware. Within those software budgets, organizations will invest relatively more than recent years in productivity software, industry-specific applications, security apps, communication software, and developer tools. Buyers are increasingly open to switching suppliers. According to the latest research by Google on the emotional state and buying habits of B2B buyers, nearly two-thirds of those buyers (65%) say they are likely to switch suppliers within the next 30 days, up from less than 60% at the beginning of the summer. They are also opening their wallets. 66% of buyers in the most recent survey say their budgets have increased in the 10% to 50% range for the near term, up 10 points from June. Buyers want self-service options... Consumer ecommerce sales have been growing and gradually eroding brick-and-mortar business for the past two decades. But the pandemic has transformed that growth to a surge, with ecommerce sales soaring 129% year over year in the U.S. and Canada. Not surprisingly, those at-home shoppers increasingly expect a similar buying experience in their professional lives. Per the Google study,, more than 80% of B2B buyers make choices based on their experiences with vendor websites. And, "Self-service options impact their purchase decisions the most with 75% saying it impacted their decision in June vs. 76% in August." ...but they also want to feel supported. Self-service doesn't mean less service, however. Google's research also found that, "Buyers want to feel supported, especially after a purchase. One in three buyers still indicate that suppliers under-deliver on post-purchase support. They are also looking for reassurance throughout the purchase process." There's much more to learn from both studies. But the bottom line is that as we've learned more about this virus, developed better therapeutics, understand better how to protect ourselves, and vaccines get closer to approval, the economy is gradually reopening. Long-term changes from this experience will make B2B technology even more important going forward. The pandemic has shifted business practices (more workers will work remotely, even long-term) and processes (more need for innovative online communication tools and security software) in ways that will impact purchasing priorities significantly in the coming year. Though fewer business anticipate revenue growth in 2021, B2B tech budgets will nonetheless increase to adapt to the changes and accelerate digital transformation. The year ahead brings significant opportunities for B2B marketers who are empathetic and able to quickly change plans to adapt to changing circumstances.

B2B Buying Trends for 2021: Latest Research

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Guiding the new B2B buyer from attraction to... Guiding the new B2B buyer from attraction to...

Published by Adobe Blog on December 7, 2021

From the article: Guiding the new B2B buyer from attraction to advocacy published by Adobe Blog Today's B2B buyer is complex. Though ...

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New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020... New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020...

Published by Agility PR on October 8, 2020

From the article: New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020 and 2021 published by Agility PRA new report from strategic B2B marketing ...

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45 Buying-Journey-Buying-Journey jplist-topic-Buying-Journey 0 504244 504244 From the article: New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020 and 2021 published by Agility PRA new report from strategic B2B marketing agency Mission Control Marketing delves into how the current global economic situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the B2B buying cycle-and these organizations' intent to engage with new and existing vendors in 2020 and 2021. The firm's new research report, Driving B2B Sales in 2020: The Definitive Guide for Understanding the Mindset, Intent and Journey of the B2B Buyer to Drive Your Sales Team to Success, in partnership with market research firm Researchscape International, provides the answers to some of the most pertinent questions for B2B organizations today. "There have been several studies published on consumer trends and buying intent right now, but the purchasing ability of businesses have also been significantly affected by the pandemic," said Elliot Schimel, CEO of Mission Control Marketing, in a news release. "As we enter what has traditionally been peak planning season with evaluation of vendors for the year ahead, this research set out to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of the B2B buyer." What is the best strategy for business growth in 2020 and 2021? Questions addressed in the report: Will B2B buyers be open to new vendors in 2020 and 2021?What will be the key factors in evaluating new vendors?What is the best strategy for business growth in 2020 and 2021? Key findings include: Analysis of Current Budget Challenges: 55 percent of B2B buyers had to cut budget in 2020, while 47 percent reported that their organizations have halted all engagements with new vendors.Plans for Evaluating and Engaging Vendors: 41 percent of B2B buyers won't be ready to evaluate new vendors until 2021 at the earliest, with 37 percent reporting plans to kick off new engagements in Q2 2021.Key Factors for Evaluating New Vendors: Quality, past results, and affordability, respectively, are the three most important factors for B2B buyers in evaluating new vendors. What are the key factors in evaluating new vendors? "Unlike previous recessions or economic downturns, individual companies have been impacted by the pandemic crisis differently, based on factors like geography, industry and product offering," added Schimel. "The current landscape for B2B sales is complex and will remain so heading into 2021. The key for successfully navigating this unprecedented and uncertain time is to have a unified strategy between marketing and sales that is laser focused on the opportunities that can lead to real business growth."

New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020 and 2021

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From the article: New research analyzes B2B buying intent in 2020 and 2021 published by Agility PRA new report from strategic B2B marketing agency ...

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Chapter 2: Examples of Digital Transformation Chapter 2: Examples of Digital Transformation

Published on Salesforce.com

From the Article: Chapter 2: Examples of Digital TransformationChapter 2: Examples of Digital TransformationWhat does digital ...

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Transforming existing sales channels: From... Transforming existing sales channels: From...

Published on Thedrum.com

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Understanding your customer's buyer journey in... Understanding your customer's buyer journey in...

Published by KingPin on February 25, 2021

From the article: Understanding your customer's buyer journey in the new digital first world published by KingPinIn 2020, the B2B buying ...

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Understanding your customer's buyer journey in the new digital first world

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How digitization is fundamentally changing... How digitization is fundamentally changing...

Published on lead-innovation.com

From the Article: How digitization is fundamentally changing business models of industriesHow digitization is fundamentally changing ...

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49 Sales-Trends-Sales-Trends jplist-topic-sales 0 504174 504174 From the Article: How digitization is fundamentally changing business models of industriesHow digitization is fundamentally changing business models of industries Digitalisation is not only having a massive impact on the B2C world, but is also a sign of radical change in B2B sales. B2B companies must adapt to this new environment and place the customer at the centre of sales activities - because B2B business models will in future be determined by the end customer.B2C sets the standard for B2BNew technologies, increasing competition from the B2C sector and changing customer requirements will blur the boundaries between B2B and B2C more and more in the future.1. Increasing customer demandsThe so-called millenials are the new decision-makers on the customer side. In the USA, 46 percent of B2B decision-makers are already under the age of 35, and the picture is similar in Germany. Buyers research online and also want to make purchases quickly and conveniently online. So when the B2B buyer is looking for a product or service in the business segment, he expects the performance he knows from the B2C market. According to a study conducted by Forrester Research in 2017, around three quarters of all B2B buyers surveyed would find procurement via the Internet much more convenient. They expect their suppliers to provide them with ordering options such as Amazon in the future.2. Higher procurement competenceIn connection with digitization, the procurement processes of B2B customers have also changed. Customers are expanding their procurement competence and consistently using their purchasing power to their advantage. For example, the use of the Internet has increased significantly in the information procurement phase. According to studies, 90 percent of B2B buyers look for keywords on the Internet, 70 percent watch videos to find out more before making a purchase. 57 percent of the purchasing process has already been completed when a sales employee is contacted for the first time.3. Growing competitionNew digital players, mostly from the B2C business, are entering the market and putting traditional B2B companies under increasing pressure with new offers and unconventional business models. They use their B2C experience and operate with innovative business models, for example as online only distributors or as aggregators of offers (e.g. Who delivers what?). These include players such as Amazon and Alibaba, who are entering the market at high speed, with new technologies and enormous resources, and are redefining entire branches of industry at a rapid pace. 4. Fast pace Increasing competition leads to a greater variety and complexity of products while at the same time shortening product life cycles. The demands on speed, flexibility and transparency of companies and their supply chains are increasing. B2B companies whose sales activities are not geared to this fast pace are coming under increasing pressure. 5. New Technologies Increasingly, functions of a product are no longer realized by hardware, but by software within the product. The requirements from software sales are added to the requirements from B2B sales of physical products. In addition, disruptive or improved technologies are conquering the market faster and faster (e.g. adoption time telephone vs. Facebook). In the digital world, it is often no longer enough to just develop good products. The sales department must be able to react flexibly to this. Enormous potential for digital B2B sales According to current calculations by management consultants Arthur D. Little, B2B e-commerce in Germany is currently growing at an annual rate of 15 percent. However, this potential is still not being used by many companies, or hardly used at all. Most B2B companies invest only a small portion of their marketing and sales budgets in digital channels. They increase their internal cost and process efficiency by digitizing back-office workflows and resource planning as well as modernizing existing IT architectures. However, the greatest potential lies in the digitization of sales. Human digital strategy A recent survey of B2B customers conducted by McKinsey showed that customers want both digital interactions and direct human contact. According to the study, speed, transparency and expertise should also be key elements of a successful human digital strategy. B2B sales managers who implement this approach would generate up to five times the growth of their colleagues. The fastest growing companies are using advanced analytics and tools to improve their sales productivity. 3 Priorities for Sales Transformation If B2B executives want to advance digitization in marketing and sales organizations, three implementation factors in particular are essential: 1. Documentation of the Customer Journey In order to find out what the expectations and needs of potential and existing customers are, the customer journey must be documented. With the help of automated systems and data from existing data sources (customer surveys, complaint management, Google Analytics, etc.), concretely defined customer segments or buyer personas can be derived that enable a sales process tailored to the customer. 2. Reassign sales and marketing resources Once companies record customer journeys, they often realize that traditional sales practices misallocate resources. For example, one OEM found that 70 percent of the budget was not focused on what was most important to customers. The company had invested heavily in custom plant demos. However, more than half of the customer base had no interest and was satisfied with a standard demo kit. Sales and marketing resources should therefore be deployed where they have the greatest impact on purchasing decisions. Often this is accompanied by the need to create a new corporate culture, as experienced executives and sales managers often find it difficult to accept the reality that long-standing "truths" no longer apply. 3. Change in the organizational structure In addition to the corporate culture, the reorganization of sales usually requires a change in the organizational structure in order to improve cooperation between marketing and sales. For a B2B salesperson, for example, data from marketing analyses showed that leads for small and medium-sized businesses were converted into product sales at higher rates when telephone calls or direct mail had already preceded email interactions. The customer relationship management system was adapted accordingly. Conclusion: High growth opportunities through digital B2B sales Digital technologies are leading to massive changes in business and industrial customer sales and at the same time offer great opportunities to stand out from the competition. By investing in targeted digital capabilities, B2B companies can dramatically improve their financial performance. It is therefore better for companies today than tomorrow to consider how they will align their business models in the future.

How digitization is fundamentally changing business models of industries

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How re-mapping the customer journey in 2021 is... How re-mapping the customer journey in 2021 is...

Published by BlueVenn on February 12, 2021

From the article: How re-mapping the customer journey in 2021 is imperative to stay ahead of your customers published by BlueVennCustomer ...

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How re-mapping the customer journey in 2021 is imperative to stay ahead of your customers

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The Six Stages of the B2B Buyer's Journey The Six Stages of the B2B Buyer's Journey

Published by MarTech.Zone on February 1, 2021

From the article: The Six Stages of the B2B Buyer's Journey published by MarTech.ZoneThere's been a lot of articles on buyer's journeys ...

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The Six Stages of the B2B Buyer's Journey

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Impact of digital transformation in sales process Impact of digital transformation in sales process

Published on LinkedIn.com

From the Article: Impact of digital transformation in sales processImpact of digital transformation in sales processWe are living in a ...

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Impact of digital transformation in sales process

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The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021 The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021

Published by MarTechSeries on January 12, 2021

From the article: The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021 published by MarTechSeriesB3B consumer preferences have changed ...

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53 Buying-Journey-Buying-Journey jplist-topic-Buying-Journey 0 504160 504160 From the article: The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021 published by MarTechSeriesB3B consumer preferences have changed forever. 2020 has been one for the record books with the global pandemic radically shifting the way buyers and sellers engage, maybe forever. Buyers had already begun showing a preference for digital channels, but the enforcement of global lockdowns procedures has only accelerated this trend. In fact, McKinsey reported that the U.S. eCommerce experienced ten years worth of growth in three months. So what are the implications of this shift to digital channels? Business leaders must reimagine the buying experience and look at how to integrate their digital channels with their traditional selling motions so buyers have a coordinated and cohesive buying experience.  Today's buyers expect fast and easy interactions with a high level of personalization along their buying journey, so what can business leaders do to deliver the experiences that drive customer loyalty and retention? Creating a Seamless, Omnichannel Buying Experience In order to adapt to the expectations of the new B2B buyer, organizations need to meet buyers where they are.  The B2B sales process has traditionally relied heavily on in-person transactions with direct sales but COVID-19 has forced buyers to move to online eCommerce channels. Beyond shifting to digital to survive, vendors must now adapt digital selling strategies accordingly to retain customers. Buyers are craving an eCommerce experience where they can effectively self-serve online. However, vendors also need to think about how the eCommerce channel integrates with traditional in-person sales touchpoints so buyers get a more seamless, consistent buying experience across the board. Today's buyers are nimble, weaving in and out of different sales channels to find products and solutions that solve purchasing challenges. Vendors need to reimagine their buying experience to deliver the 24/7 convenience needed to so that buyers are able to make purchasing decisions regardless of where or how they make them. Can they continue their buying process without having to start over? B2B sales teams need to be able to support a true omnichannel experience that gives buyers the flexibility they want, ultimately delivering a great customer experience. Right Time, Right Place: Why Personalized Product Offers are Essential Enabling buyers to find the perfect solution for their needs is even more important now that the B2B sales process is moving to self-service.  For example, many vendors have robust catalogs with many selection or configuration options, making it easy for buyers to become overwhelmed with finding the right solution. B2B salespeople need to understand the context of buyers and challenges they're trying to solve and help them find or configure the best solutions to meet their needs. Regardless of whether a purchase is being made online or in-person, buyers have come to expect a high level of personalization in the products presented to them. Reducing the amount of time to purchase is one key way to match the right solution or product that solves buyers' needs. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can play a role here. AI and machine learning models can help analyze massive data sets and provide recommendations based on that buyer's preferences.  Using AI-based tools enables the end user - whether it's a seller or eCommerce engine - to understand the context and nuances of customers and tailor product recommendations that perfectly meets their needs.  Delivering a great end-to-end customer experience leads to advocacy, which leads to growth. The Price is Right: Why Transparency is Key in the Self-Service Era To scale and grow businesses in today's market, sales teams need to enable buyers to easily find the right solutions to meet their needs - and to do that, delivering the right price is step one to enticing them to make a purchase. In the past, B2B sellers have been reluctant to be transparent about product prices, especially on an eCommerce channel, because it allows them to control the sales process. In today's ever-increasing digital era, price transparency has become even more critical because sellers are no longer in control - buyers want to be in control of their own purchasing experience. When vendors make it difficult for buyers to get a price for their products or solutions, they risk losing out on winning or retaining business. To ease the buying decision, vendors must provide transactable prices to buyers in their chosen sales channels.  Employing technologies that help sales teams determine what a buyer is willing to pay allows them to respond quickly to buyer inquiries. A buyer should get a consistent price for an order regardless of whether they're purchasing in-person or online. Vendors need to provide pricing transparency to create the most seamless experience and ease the decision-making process for their customers, and technology can play a role in making this easier. Businesses who can provide transparency and efficiency within the buying process will ultimately build trust with customers. B2B organizations continue to make over half of their revenue from online purchases, and this figure will only continue to grow. Customers are demanding a fast, streamlined and personalized buying experience and thanks to COVID-19, digital selling is no longer a "nice-to-have" but a "must-have". Business leaders will need to look for ways to integrate into a customer's world or risk getting cut out of the relationship and replaced by marketplace options like Amazon. Moving into 2021, B2B sellers will need to take a leaf out of the B2C retail playbook to avoid striking out before it's too late.

The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021

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From the article: The Evolution of B2B Consumer Preferences in 2021 published by MarTechSeriesB3B consumer preferences have changed forever. 2020 has ...

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Digitization of the Field Sales Process and Its... Digitization of the Field Sales Process and Its...

Published on Fieldcircle.com

From the Article: Digitization of the Field Sales Process and Its 10 Powerful Impacts Digitization of the Field Sales Process and Its 10 ...

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Digitization of the Field Sales Process and Its 10 Powerful Impacts

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THE TRANSFORMED SALES OPERATION: HOW DATA AND... THE TRANSFORMED SALES OPERATION: HOW DATA AND...

Published on Exlservice.com

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THE TRANSFORMED SALES OPERATION: HOW DATA AND ANALYTICS ARE REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ACQUIRE, CROSS SELL AND RETAIN CUSTOMERS

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What is Digital Transformation in sales, and how... What is Digital Transformation in sales, and how...

Published on Forcemanager.com

From the Article: What is Digital Transformation in sales, and how do we achieve it?How exactly do we achieve digital transformation in ...

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56 Sales-Trends-Sales-Trends jplist-topic-sales 0 504156 504156 From the Article: What is Digital Transformation in sales, and how do we achieve it?How exactly do we achieve digital transformation in sales? What have been the most significant industry changes over the past 5-10 years? Is the digitalization of the sales process important? And what exactly does the future hold for field sales teams? Luckily we were able to sit down with just the man to help answer some of these questions. Roger Galdon, Head of Technical Consulting at ForceManager, will provide context to the current sales technology landscape, help define some of the key concepts, challenges, and outline the necessary steps to successful digital transformation in sales. Galdon has over 15 years of experience dividing his time between both engineering and sales teams, helping implement various successful digital transformation sales projects. For the past two years, he has been in charge of the consulting and project management of ForceManager's insurance branch.  So, without further ado, let's get stuck into the Q&A. What is digital transformation? And at which stage do we find ourselves now?  Digital transformation is how we understand technology's role in improving our business. Or, in other words, being able to judge where society's at technologically and then looking at our organization's capacity to onboard these tools to improve performance. The following graphic, based on Martec's Law, helps us understand the relationship between sales transformation technology and an organization's rigid structure. As you can see, the sharply rising blue curve at the top of the graph represents technological change. Although difficult to quantify, it's hard to ignore the speed at which technology has changed in our lives, something we would categorize as faster than steady, linear growth. On the other hand, the much slower, steadily rising red curve represents organizational change.  The reason behind its gradually decreasing lineage is time. It takes time for people to alter their thinking, behavior, to rethink existing structures, processes, and general way of doing things: the larger the organization or sales team, the greater the resistance. Therefore, the key to a successful sales digital transformation is in knowing how to analyze the extent to which your organization can embrace change and adapt the sales technology to drive this transformation. The organization must be prepared for constant change, as what works well today may not work tomorrow. Look at the music industry, for example. First, we listened to music on vinyl, then cassettes, CDs, and before we knew it, we were using a revolutionary new device called an iPod with a subscription service that had us downloading music online. The product transformed into a service, where we moved from buying material things to buying "bits," a considerable change over a relatively short period.  What is the difference between digital transformation and digitization? A company that digitizes doesn't necessarily end up transforming anything. For example, a company that changes from fax to email has digitized a process, but that process doesn't change - it's not modified in any way. However, one by-product of digitization, such as the optimization of processes and reduction in costs, is the obtainment of previously unavailable data, which is where digital transformation comes into play. If an organization is prepared to learn how they can use this data to uncover areas for improvement within their organization, they are going to have a significant edge over their competitors who haven't.  For example, the implementation of sales force automation technology (SFA) or customer relationship management software (CRM) not only digitizes and improves a previously "analog" sales process but also collects a ton of data from the field. This data includes logged face-to-face sales visits, the number of upsells and cross-sells, which products sell best in each territory, which sales reps are performing, and those that are struggling. Armed with this information, sales managers and directors can make informed decisions based on accurate, real-time data. Now some of these decisions might require the restructuring of specific processes, sales territories, and even how the organization views its customer base. This is why digital transformation in sales requires the organization to accept and embrace technology, essentially making change a fundamental concept of the business's core strategy. What is sales digital transformation in sales? To truly understand the sales digital transformation, we have to go back to the recent economic crisis of 08', 09'. Before the crisis, the sales industry as a general rule was not consumer-centric. The goal was to sell more and at any price. A client's or consumer's actual needs were a distant echo in the background, a bit like when your mom called you off the playing field because dinner was served; you heard her faint calls but carried on playing regardless. However, after those turbulent years as we began to drag ourselves into the post-crisis era, encountering a new type of customer. One much more informed, more demanding, less faithful, and completely wired to the internet.  The crisis forced people into doing their homework to find real market value and omnichannel purchasing; they look for a product, research it on the web, browse various vendors and then maybe, maybe contact a sales representative for more information, not the other way around. Society's use of technology combined with extreme financial pressure had, therefore, entirely transformed not only the sales process but how businesses communicate with their customers.  This is also true with B2B sales. Faced with this new 'panorama' sales reps have to offer a much more advisory role.  They must learn how to use technology to quickly respond to customers over digital channels while adding insights for a more personalized, customer-oriented experience that moves the sales process forward. Once their particular pain points are uncovered then, and only then, can they step in and truly offer them value with the right product or service. Can you give us an example of a successful sales transformation project? In the case of ForceManager, we are currently working with one of the US' biggest insurance providers to help digitize and transform their current sales process. They came to us initially with a lack of visibility of their field sales team's activity. It soon transpired that their field agents and brokers used Excel to document their sales reports. These reports would then, in theory, be sent over to the respective territory managers at the end of the week. However, this didn't always happen, and if it did, they were hashed together at the last minute. This left sales managers and directors with: No visibility of sales activity during the week.Reports siloed with different territory managers.No centralized database.No insight into customer satisfaction.An inefficient and expensive sales process. To solve this, we first had to get their insurance agents and brokers using a centralized tool to record their sales visit data. Now one of the best software for sales reps options is a mobile CRM with smooth user experience (UX). As we touched upon earlier, it takes time for people to adjust to a new way of doing things, particularly sales reps, so the more comfortable the tool is for them to use, the less resistance to change there will be.           With the field agents now uploading data in real-time straight after their visits, it only gives sales directors a quick overview of their team's activity, but also means: Agents no longer have to compile data in spreadsheets.Breaks down team silos.Centralizes sales data into one, easily accessible system.Pinpoint areas for cross-selling and upselling.Identify an agent's and broker's weak points. Closer alignment between agents and the customer journey. The challenge now facing our client is how to manage the structural change required to take full advantage of this data. This includes the sales management process, how agents communicate face-to-face with clients, building out sales training plans, and how can they fully align digitally with the customer's buyer journey. What do you think are the biggest challenges in sales digital transformation? There are several inhibiting factors when it comes to a successful digital transformation in sales practices. First, the business has to be clear about their overall strategy. What is it you expect from this transformation process, and why are you putting in the resources to make it happen? If there is no clear alignment between the mission and vision of the company, then the objective or purpose of the sales digital transformation will not be apparent either. Consequently, decisions are made on gut feeling and without certainty. Some other challenges facing companies are: Internal and external customer alignment.Resistance to change within the organization.Costs.Security.Poor organization infrastructure. Successful sales transformation is about changing the mentality not just within the sales team, but across all departments within the organization. Let them know the importance of all these new channels, the potential benefits they bring, and provide the appropriate training to maximize their use. All this must be done with a long-term vision in mind. During this transformation process, it is essential that you listen to the market and customers because there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Sales representatives convey to managers what's happening on the front line, what customers are requesting, and what competitors are doing. Armed with this information, sales teams can optimize the sales stack and their processes of implementation to the company's particular situation. Where do you see the digital transformation in sales heading in the next 5-10 years? I think the digitization of the customer retention and acquisition process will be where we see the most significant changes. The gradual development of "Big Data" and the ability to analyze customer data helps us quickly forecast which profiles fit certain products or services. There are already tools that can bring us that sales insight on a fundamental level but look for this to grow exponentially over the next couple of years. This analysis can also be applied to customer acquisition models. Perfecting the timing and delivery of information, as well as the quality of content we are putting out there, will lead to an increase in qualified leads entering the sales funnel. More leads, more potential sales! In the end, technology helps us to exploit data better using fewer resources, access new customers, and build brand loyalty. Thank you very much for your time, Roger.

What is Digital Transformation in sales, and how do we achieve it?

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How technology is transforming the sales process How technology is transforming the sales process

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57 Sales-Trends-Sales-Trends jplist-topic-sales 0 504153 504153 From the article: How technology is transforming the sales process How technology is transforming the sales process "Shopping online is now a truly mainstream activity among internet users - 3 in 4 online adults are purchasing products online each month" this compelling statement comes from the latest bi-annual Global Web Indexreport, one of the leading online market research companies. Digital transformation is not about only company change, but it also encompasses user behaviors, purchase journeys and ultimately market transformation. In an ever changing world how do we get our company to cope in such a challenging environment? We either embrace change or die. But let's take this journey of change one step at a time. If we dare to stand by the fact that digital transformation is changing companies, irrespective of what sector they form part of, it is because here at Good Rebels we are experiencing this first hand. The world no longer talks about "digital" as something unknown or to fear; we now talk about data, increasing targets and online sales that are reaching double or triple the volumes of the previous year. We now speak of UX, service enhancement and putting people at the heart of everything. Consequently the predictions around the eCommerce sales evolution, outlined in the 'Evolution and eCommerce Prospects 2017 Report' prepared by the eCommerce Observatory and EY (survey of more than 20,000 online stores in Spain from major online retail sectors), are not surprising. Within the report they assert that 63% of Spanish companies expect to increase their sales in 2017 by more than 10%; And have already established ambitious goals (and hopes) for the years to come. What are the key factors for this? Consumer recognition, usability, as well as optimization of technology in sales and mobile processes. The user trend towards multiple devices and their fundamental role in key purchase decision momentsmeans that the m-Commerce continues to grow in importance every day. Moreover, if we consider that global mobile penetration sits at 97%, and in Europe 78 out of 100 people have a smartphone combined by the fact that global mobile web traffic is expected to multiply by 8 times its current levels by 2020 (according to Ditrendia). All of this means that these channels require their own individual analysis. The data behind all of this is certainly compelling and predictions are also becoming increasingly a reality, but are we still reluctant to change? Years ago, we could have affirmed this question without hesitation, but nowadays, much less so than before. There will always be companies that decide on following those who break the rules, but by analyzing the evolution of online sales processes, we find out that not only is the fashion sector driving innovation, but even other industries where there were not so many companies in digital transformation, have also joined the forefront of this digital revolution such as the banking sector, mass retail or even some insurance brands. Technology continues to solve new needs and in terms of eCommerce innovation its main focus is on improving usability and user conversions so that ultimately, the impact on sales performance is much greater. Thanks to this, the marketplace now has several tools available - each with their own unique levels of investment / implementation required - that can help us enormously to increase online sales volumes. As always, there is no universal rule that can be applied to every business, the most important thing is to perform a deep analysis of your company and your business needs, from which conclusions can be made to generate improvements, that can be prioritized according to objectives and needs. So in this post, we will analyze 3 totally different tools that can help to boost your eCommerce: chatbots or purchase assistants, biometric recognition and innovative payment methods. Chatbots They are not a novelty, but a disruptor. This technology that facilitates virtual assistance is incredibly useful, both for customer service and support in the sales process, guiding the customer and helping him to complete his cart, as well as accessing the checkout in a much simpler and even more enjoyable way than before. Its main advantage is customization, the ability to adapt to the particular needs of a company or sector. The main challenge? To incorporate machine learning using AI, which facilitates improved conversations, depending on the use of the wizard, achieving a better customer experience thanks to the personalization. In this sense, advances have already been made, such as the Azure automatic learning platform, a cloud analysis service that allows you to create and deploy machine models based on the needs of each user, such as Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant. However, there is still definitely a long way to go. At Good Rebels, we have helped brands such as Santalucía, who after deciding to launch a unique website to completely commercialize Pension Plans online, they realised the need to continually drive digital improvement of their sales processes. Given the fact that purchasing a financial product involves complex decisions, the implementation of a chatbot that was present throughout the entire customer journey: search, comparison, decision and purchase, became very necessary. This wizard allows users to receive personalized advice - based on risk profile and needs - by answering a few simple questions that, when combined with an algorithm, result in the classification of potential customers. Probably only a few years ago you might not have ever considered signing up to a Pension Plan completely online but thanks to a virtual assistant, you can now receive immediate and personalized advice throughout the whole purchase process. Biometric Recognition Capable of recognizing faces, fingerprints and objects amongst other things, this solution allows us to identify a user safely, efficiently and digitally. Thanks to this innovation, we have overcome the legal barriers that prevented the fulfilment of many online sales processes and with that, we can guarantee the security required by users for purchasing more complex products. This increased security and the consequent streamlining of processes have allowed consumer confidence to grow in the online purchase of these type of goods and this has also filtered down to sales. Whether opening a bank account without needing to go a local branch or signing up to / seeking advice about a particular product without setting foot in the offices of an insurer, nowadays with biometric recognition this can be achieved simply with a selfie. Amazon is one of the leading companies in the world in this regard and last June announced that they are launching their own tool "Amazon Rekognition" that will allow "aggregation of image analysis to their applications. Detect objects, backgrounds, faces; recognize celebrities; and identify inappropriate content on images". Payment methods Thanks to chatbots we can assist users, with biometrics we can identify them, but when it comes to payment methods we find that these are often the Achilles heel of e-commerce. The penetration of digital systems is increasing but there are still users who are reluctant to share their banking data, so the success of eCommerce depends on paying close attention to how to make payment methods easier and simpler for the consumer. 22% of users abandon their purchase after not finding payment methods suited to their needs, according to "The eCommerce 2015 Study" prepared by IAB Spain. The more options we offer to the client, the more trustworthy our e-commerce offering will transmit, also the more ease will be the conversion, even when we know the behavior of our customers and their payment preferences, the ability to provide other payment systems that give you choice, will lead to greater confidence when you want to complete a purchase. The preferred payment method of online users is by debit card and it is frequently younger age groups, between 25 and 34 years, who use this system the most, 61% of the time according to "The Electronic Commerce Study in Spain" in 2016 by the Cetelem Observatory. Among the other most used methods is: Paypal, for its security; The credit card or stripe, to defer payment until the end of the month; Cash, counter-cash or SeQura, for the peace of mind of not paying until you receive the product; transfer payment, that does not require giving out data and finally, online financing for the comfort of being able to carry out more valuable purchases. Sales processes evolution The three technology solutions that we've mentioned are an example of evolution that sales processes are experiencing which are driven by digital transformation, but none of them would be truly impactful without personalization: to offer a potential customer what they want at the precise moment when they want it. Thanks to Big Data we can connect in the most efficient way with our current and potential customers, offering them what they longing for, the personalization of our offering. No doubt, the predictive analysis of purchases, trends, stock or personalization already commented (among others), have made Big Data a valuable tool for eCommerce. A brand that knows how to take advantage of Big Data and to apply it to their offer is without doubt Spotify . This music streaming model has invested a lot (both money and effort) to know more about its users in order to offer them personalized services and experiences, taking advantage of their 30 million song catalog, which alternatively could have worked against them. We commented at the beginning of this post and we emphasize again: adapt or die is a necessity, but it must always be based on knowledge. Before undertaking any change, it is necessary to start analyzing business needs, understanding the customer, drawing valuable conclusions from insights and prioritize innovation in digital transformation aligned to objectives and requirements, because as we have seen the solutions are already available in the marketplace. Óscar Suescun

How technology is transforming the sales process

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