Tech Maturity Shapes Firms’ Customer Experience Initiatives

ISG Provider Lens™ report says enterprises are seeking different contact center services to address changes in business and consumer behavior following the pandemic

Major changes in business operations and consumer behavior since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased demand for advanced customer experience (CX) capabilities, with enterprises adopting new technologies at different rates depending on their maturity and needs, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2022 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center — Customer Experience Services Archetype report finds that contact center operations are being transformed by automation and analytics as companies adapt to remote, home-based and hybrid work models. More companies are embracing AI bots, speech analytics, sentiment analysis and other tools to improve both customer and employee experience.

“At the highest levels of leadership, enterprises are recognizing the strategic importance of customer experience,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Modern digital customer experience technology is becoming essential, especially as hiring and retaining skilled agents grows more challenging. Companies are seeking providers’ help at all stages of this evolution.”

The 2022 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center — Customer Experience Services Archetype report summarizes the relative capabilities of contact center service providers to meet the needs of typical, frequently encountered categories, or archetypes, of enterprise buyers. Each archetype represents a specific set of business and technology needs and challenges, which vary over time. Most organizations, especially large enterprises, include teams or business units that fit into different archetypes.

The report examines four archetypes within enterprise clients that are looking for contact center services. The report evaluates the capabilities of 26 customer experience services providers to deliver services to the four archetypes:

Automation Embracers: These clients are relatively new to digitalization but have made it a priority. The pandemic has pushed them to adopt new customer experience channels and use automation to ensure customer loyalty and retention. Cost savings remains a priority. They are looking to leverage global expertise and presence to overcome inadequate skills and technologies.

Digital Connoisseurs: These more mature clients have explored omnichannel customer engagement and are familiar with advanced CX technologies, including automation. They plan to scale digital transformation to improve CX for competitive advantage. Clients in this archetype want to partner with providers that have broad digital capabilities extending to AI and machine learning.

CX Evangelists: For these clients, transforming CX through analytics is the highest priority. They look for strategic business partners with implementation experience, transformation solutions and a wide range of analytics services. CX Evangelists demand highly skilled domain experts as agents and evaluate partnerships based on revenue, customer satisfaction and other business outcomes.

Work-From-Home Buyers: Clients in this archetype are looking to adopt a completely work-from-home or hybrid work model. Cost savings, business resiliency and access to a large talent pool are their main objectives. They seek service providers with the training, skills, agents and technologies — including cloud contact centers and robust security — to enable a work-from-home infrastructure.

Among the providers ISG evaluated, HGS, Sitel Group, Sutherland and Teleperformance are named as Leaders across all four archetypes. Cognizant, Concentrix, Conduent and Tech Mahindra are named as Leaders across three archetypes each. Atento and TTEC are named as Leaders across two archetypes each. [24]7.ai, EXL, Infosys, Startek, Transcom and WNS are named as Leader in one quadrant each.

A customized version of the report is available from Sitel Group.

The 2022 ISG Provider Lens™ Contact Center — Customer Experience Services Archetype report is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 800 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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