EntTech Overview
Our extensive, consistent, deep study of the Enterprise Technology industry, working with clients on advancing CX initiatives, interviewing 1,000+ Enterprise Technology customers, and examining the relentless onslaught of disruption, has given us a unique perspective on the industry.
We offer here our thoughts in the hopes that it inspires Enterprise Technology vendors to act with purpose and conviction as they seek to win customers’ lasting trust.
The Context for CX: Our Thesis
Massive shifts in techworld are disrupting the industry, creating new complexities, and defying the status quo.
Evolution
Cloud, microservices, AI…for now, as the innovation pipeline will continue to deliver more.
Commercialization
Consumption models, renewal cycles. There is no more post-sales.
Fragmentation
Myriad competitors vying for customer business processes and workloads. Specialization has become a double-edged sword.
Democratization
Barriers to purchase, ownership, and adoption. Products are more accessible – both in terms of commercial units and non-technical buyers.
All of this change creates challenges, but it simultaneously creates corresponding opportunities by shaking up the playing field for value delivery and value capture.
Vendors who are able to interpret customer signals and adapt in real-time are able to take advantage and re-align to emerging market realities. Those who are heads down iterating on old models and assumptions find themselves operating at parity – or worse.
Our posture is one of optimism, of possibility, of yet-to-be-tapped potential. And piercing the nascent world of Customer Centricity and Customer Experience is the domain to be leveraged.
There is opportunity ahead, a new value territory / value paradigm for vendors.
The Case for Customer Experience
Customer Context:
A story of needing true shoulder-to-shoulder partnership from their vendors
Enterprise technology customers increasingly demand better experiences buying, implementing, and using technology
Insatiable appetite for software to drive automation, productivity, competitive differentiation
Enterprise technology is complex by default, not just because the technology itself may be complex, but because it has to be brought into an existing operation, used by many people whose jobs depend on it, under the scrutiny of executives, at potentially a significant cost.
Comfortable and confident in bringing in and adopting technology…but need help navigating a complex techworld
Adopting modern IT architectures and operating models built for adaptability
Require more strategic and technical assistance
CX is critically important to customers
Success with technology depends on the end-to-end experience with the vendor
B2C expectations heighten B2B expectations
Every aspect of the experience impacts trust in a vendor
High degree of emotional factors present in B2B decisions
More business, IT, and shared service roles participate across the customer lifecycle
New technologies introduce new customer needs
Customers rely on vendors not only for great products, but for counsel, advice, extra hands, expertise. They seek true partnership—a partnership based on trust and intimacy.
Vendor Context:
A story of recognizing the need to change but challenged by entrenched cultural norms
Traditional sales-orientated, sales-centric approaches are no longer sufficient to drive vendor success long-term. The transition from long-term capital investments to shorter-term operating expense-based subscription models is dramatically changing the nature of how customers must be addressed:
Customers can more easily (but not easily) switch vendors. They no longer tolerate misalignment of need and what vendors sell them, substandard vendor empathy and support, and subpar product capabilities/usability.
With more frequent renewal cycles and opportunities for up-sell / cross-sell, vendors need to prove their value in real-time, all the time. Big bang decisions become a series of ongoing smaller decisions.
Microservices replace monoliths, creating decisions more often. Microservices compound decision frequency.
Business roles are ascending to the decision-making regime, expanded set of roles to serve.
For their part, vendors are increasingly recognizing the importance of end-to-end lifecycle engagement…
Building new practices, policies, and operations to support new delivery models and new transaction models
Helping connect their products to practical customer use cases
Building brand strategies that connect with customer needs (rational and emotional)
Engaging in always-on product and feature development, portfolio alignment, ancillary service development
Disaggregating and modularizing products
…but often do so in isolated pockets
With continuously changing technology, cloud subscription models full of micro buying decisions, and relentless competition, enterprise technology vendors must find ways to create frictionless, seamless experiences for the range of roles involved across the customer lifecycle – to differentiate, substantiate, and reinforce the value they deliver. This is often pursued without a strategy, cross-functional alignment, and critical customer insights.
There remains a significant gap between what customers need and what vendors deliver. Between vendors wanting to be more customer-centric and their ability to do so. The CX gap is growing. How can vendors catch up? The challenge for vendors is how to identify, prioritize, align, and scale CX efforts across the organization.