How Microsoft Got Its Groove Back (and Is Putting Apple in the Rearview Mirror)

[IanInsights] – Back in 2010 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stood before a packed crowd to unveil what he called the new ‘Slate PC.’ (He never was known to be a branding genius.) In the much anticipated announcement, Ballmer highlighted ‘new form factors that are coming this year’ (Video) while holding a mock HP unit for all to see. But as we all know, Microsoft squandered this lead and watched Apple launch the iPad three months later. A market Apple continues to dominate – for now. (read more)

The Mid-Year Report Part 2: Eight Red Hot Vendors Blazing Ahead

[IanInsights] – In my previous blog, we took a look at the eight ice cold vendors of 2017 finding they lacked customer options, flexibility and true cloud-based computing solutions. They all came up short in delivering value. For this blog, we look at the other end of the spectrum – which vendors are red hot, offering maximum value. (read more)

The Mid-Year Report Part 1: Eight Ice Cold Vendors Falling Behind

[IanInsights] – Nucleus research was the first major analyst firm to recommend cloud computing — more than 15 years ago. We understood the value early and while other firms hedged their bets and wavered, we helped many clients – both vendors and enterprises alike – greatly benefit with the SaaS model. And as businesses adopted the cloud and realized success, the more equivocal analysts began to slowly jump on the bandwagon until we finally hit the tipping point. (read more)

IBM (Are You Freaking Kidding Me?) to the Power of You!

[IanInsights] – There was once a day when even a minor layoff at IBM would grab the business headlines. Yet today, Big Blue seems to be fading before our very eyes and so few are paying attention. In fact, I wrote about this a few weeks back in my blog IBM: How the Three Biggest Letters in Tech Have Become the Smallest

At the time, I thought poor marketing was IBM’s biggest weakness but since then I’m starting to wonder if the whole business is in serious trouble… (read more)

The Increasing Value of Marketing Automation

[IanInsights] – Marketing automation has emerged as one of the biggest trends in enterprise technology right now. And for good reason, as it is delivering tremendous value. Back in January, we published research that showed a $6.66 return on average for every dollar spent on marketing automation technology. That’s impressive ROI.

In fact four of this year’s ten ROI Award winners are for marketing automation solutions. Recent analysis leads me to believe value is still on an upswing here and we could see an even higher percentage of marketing automation ROI Award winners next year.

But why exactly is marketing automation suddenly so hot? And why now?… (read more)

SAP’s IoT Strategy: Will Leonardo Fly?

[IanInsights] – What a difference a year makes. Now I need to start by saying that we weren’t the biggest fans of SAP a year ago. Unlike other research firms, our analysts talk to end-users just about every day (and let’s face it, if the analysts at other firms actually did talk to real customers their stories would start with something better than “one client of mine that I can’t name…”). With every discussion we get a lot of data and an idea of both the good and bad in the tech world… (read more)

IBM: How the Three Biggest Letters in Tech Have Become the Smallest

[IanInsights] – When I was growing up, the word technology conjured three prominent letters: I B M. Big Blue had been dominant in computing for decades, continued to innovate and, frankly, lead the industry. Its computers powered the U.S. space program, revolutionized the retail check-out process and in 1981, took computing mainstream with the first commercial PC. IBM essentially kicked off the present day computing era… (read more)

Forget HAL 9000, R2D2 or even RoboCop. AI Takes Off with CRM

 
[IanInsights] – Where AI is making inroads is not where you might expect it. Despite flashy concept videos, it’s not really happening in the kitchen, on the phone or even in the car – all the self-driving hoopla aside. Where we see AI adding real value is actually for enterprise business. Specifically for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). That’s actually a great sign, since CRM has been the trailblazer to usher in many of today’s value-adding technologies. CRM was the first commercial application to embrace the cloud. Big data and data analytics were then vetted by CRM technologies before making their way to analyzing your latest tax returns through companies like H&R Block or TurboTax… (read more)

Easy Strategy to Cut Compliance Costs by One-Third: Integrated WFM

[IanInsights] – Let’s face it; Workforce Management (WFM) is not exactly the sexiest software in the enterprise. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps you get closer to customers and sell more. Analytics provides insight to boost productivity. Even Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is helping companies build competitive advantage. They all show tremendous value that improves the bottom line.

But what if WFM software could save money while streamlining operations? Would cutting overall compliance costs by say 33 percent make WFM a little more attractive? (read more)

Shiny Object Syndrome or When Cool Tech Isn’t Enough