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Making SaaS sticky: Why customer success is the industry’s new linchpin

(c)iStock.com/shylendrahoode

Behind every great tech innovation is the need for effective tech implementation. But anyone who has ever been an early adopter of enterprise technology knows that no matter how remarkable the software is, integrating it into a business and its processes is rarely (read: never) an easy feat. Not only must customers understand how to use the new technology, they have to know how to maximise its use for their business.

In the software as a service (SaaS) industry, this gets more challenging still. Time is a luxury most providers don’t have.

When your business model relies exclusively on monthly or annual subscriptions—as most SaaS firms today do—the opportunity window for a customer to achieve maximum use is incredibly short. If the software isn’t achieving ROI after a few months at most, it’s easily dumped for something else. After all, the technology is rooted in the cloud, so there are no installation investments or long-term contracts to fall back on, as is typically the case with on-premise software or hardware.

Losing a customer because your cloud-based software did not meet expectations is very expensive. According to the Harvard Business Review, it is five to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new client than it is to keep an existing one. Moreover, research from Fred Reichheld of consulting firm Bain & Company shows that increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25% to 95%. And Gartner has found that 80% of a company’s future revenue will come from just 20% of its existing customers.

Delivering on the promise of customer success and optimising technology for clients is the new linchpin of the SaaS industry—especially for B2B SaaS firms, where single customers equate to large-scale accounts, and it’s driving a new trend within the industry.

Bridging support to success

Customer success is not simply another form of customer support. They’re two entirely different facets of business strategy and should be treated as such.

Customer support is rooted in reactivity. If something breaks, the customer support team is there to fix it. If someone can’t get to the right portal, the customer support team is there for guidance. The calls are incoming.

Customer success, by contrast, is proactive. Rather than waiting for calls to come in, the customer success team seeks out customers to discover how they are using the technology to meet their business objectives. A customer success manager gets to know company projects, coordinates personalised training and planning and becomes the company’s internal advocate for successful adoption. Their goals? Customer satisfaction, the best solution to problem fit, and long-term client retention.

SaaS companies need both functions to excel. Still, customer support and customer success don’t typically operate under the same umbrella by design. Support teams have to be ready to put out fires, solve individual project issues and navigate specific technical questions, while customer success teams must be relentless in adding value to customers and helping them to understand and optimise software.

If success and support are merged into a single silo, you’re more likely to compromise important elements of both, or one will simply dominate the other. When they remain separate departments that work alongside each other—keeping a well-oiled dialogue of pain-points and resolutions—you open the door to long-term customer retention that results in coveted revenue predictability.

Building the customer success experience

Because of its bottom-line significance, customer success is just as important to business as sales, marketing, operations or finance. For this reason, we’re beginning to see cloud-based software companies start to build distinct functions for customer success management—and put real resources behind it. Those that haven’t yet are sure to move in this direction to stay relevant.

As SaaS companies build and enhance their customer success strategy, here are a few key tips to consider:

  • Weave customer success into company philosophy. Though a customer success department will have dedicated staff to drive customer success initiatives day-to-day, customer success is as much a company philosophy as it is a function. When customers realise that customer success is foundational to every part of your business (that is, you have metrics behind it, and it’s discussed daily by marketers, developers, assistants and leadership), they will come to appreciate that they’re not just investing in software, they have a tech partner.
  • Rekindle legacy relationships. Don’t wait for new customers to come in the door before making customer success a priority. Re-energise your relationships with existing clients by performing a success triage—get an in-depth look at how they’re using your technology and why—and then work with them to outline a roadmap for optimization.
  • Bring clients to you. Small-group training sessions are among the most effective ways to initiate customer success. There is no better way to ensure customers have the technical skills needed to properly use your software than to have an in-house expert sit down with a customer and work through it together. When groups are small, typically no more than 10 customers in one session, you’re able to have essential face-to-face interaction. The group is also small enough to take out to dinner or to a local sporting event. That social element can go a long way in building trust, and again, reaffirming your company is a business partner, not just a vendor.
  • Leverage customer success technology. As more SaaS firms lean in to customer success, we’ll see more resources designed specifically to support it. And there are already some great technologies out there to help build a strong customer success program, such as Gainsight and Totango.   

As SaaS companies continue to flood the market and compete for business, it won’t be the technology that defines success. It will be how well companies think like their customers think and guide their customers through the optimal customer journey. Those that ignore customer success do so at their own peril.

After all, without its linchpin, the wheels of an organisation are sure to fall off. 

Apple, Internet of Things, IoT, News & Analysis, smart watch, Wearables

Smart Watch market enters into decline for first time

Research firm IDC says shipments of the Apple Watch have dropped by 55% resulting in the first year-on-year quarterly shipment decline for the smart watch sector, reports Telecoms.com.

Preliminary data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker estimates vendors shipped 3.5 million units, down from 5.1 million in the same period 2015. Apple, which dominates the smart watch market share, saw its shipments decrease from 3.6 million in Q2 2015 to 1.6 million this year. While it is a substantial drop, it does also demonstrate Apple’s strangle hold on the market. All other vendors in the top five increased shipments, however Apple still controls 47% market share.

“Consumers have held off on smart watch purchases since early 2016 in anticipation of a hardware refresh, and improvements in WatchOS are not expected until later this year, effectively stalling existing Apple Watch sales,” said Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. “Apple still maintains a significant lead in the market and unfortunately a decline for Apple leads to a decline in the entire market. Every vendor faces similar challenges related to fashion and functionality, and though we expect improvements next year, growth in the remainder of 2016 will likely be muted.”

A recent report from Ericsson indicating the wearables market is not performing in-line with consumer expectations, as general consensus is the technology is not advanced enough to date. A common cause of dissatisfaction is customers feel tethered to their smartphone, as the wearable device does not have standalone features. Respondents of the survey also highlighted the price was a barrier to entry, though this may be down to the fact smart watches cannot currently be used as a standalone device. Currently, it is an add-on.

“What will bear close observation is how the smart watch market evolves from here,” said Llamas. “Continued platform development, cellular connectivity, and an increasing number of applications all point to a smartwatch market that will be constantly changing. These will appeal to a broader market, ultimately leading to a growing market.”

This is not the first warning sign for the smart watch subsector, as Strategy Analytics recently released a forecast which estimated shipments would decline by 12% over the course of 2016. There has been a growing consensus shipments of the Apple Watch may have peaked following a blockbuster launch in Q2 last year, though the research from IDC could imply the decline is moving faster than previously anticipated. IDC also stated it does not expect the market return to growth in 2017.

Although smart watches have not penetrated the mainstream market currently, what could give the devices a lift is the entry of traditional watch brands. Casio, Fossil, and Tag Heuer have launched their own models, though the brand credibility associated with these brands could give the segment a much needed boost.

Top Five Smartwatch Vendors, Shipments, Market Share and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2Q 2016 (Units in Millions)
Vendor 2Q16 Unit 

Shipments

 2Q16 Market

Share

 2Q15 Unit

Shipments

 2Q15 Market

Share

 Year-Over-

Year Growth
  1. Apple
 1.6 47% 3.6 72% -55%
  1. Samsung
 0.6 16% 0.4 7% 51%
  1. Lenovo
 0.3 9% 0.2 3% 75%
  1. LG Electronics
 0.3 8% 0.2 4% 26%
  1. Garmin
 0.1 4% 0.1 2% 25%
Others 0.6 16% 0.6 11% -1%
Total 3.5 100% 5.1 100% -32%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, July 21, 2016
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Cloud Computing Security Tips and Advice | @CloudExpo #API #Cloud #Security

Are you still pondering whether to integrate cloud computing services into the structure of your IT network? You are not the only one. Most IT professionals are very concerned about data security, so they aren’t that willing to switch to cloud computing solutions that easily. It’s a fact that even advanced services like Amazon’s EC2 aren’t ready to cater to all privacy needs of data-sensitive companies.

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[session] The Democratization of IT By @MThiele10 | @CloudExpo @Apcera #IoT #API #Cloud

The Jevons Paradox suggests that when technological advances increase efficiency of a resource, it results in an overall increase in consumption. Writing on the increased use of coal as a result of technological improvements, 19th-century economist William Stanley Jevons found that these improvements led to the development of new ways to utilize coal.
In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Thiele, Chief Strategy Officer for Apcera, will compare the Jevons Paradox to modern-day enterprise IT, examining how the Internet and the cloud has allowed for the democratization of IT, resulting in an increased demand for the cloud and the drive to develop new ways to utilize it.

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The ‘cloud shift’ grows: Gartner predicts more than $1tn IT spend affected by 2020

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IT spending has long since been shifting from traditional IT offerings to cloud services – and according to the latest prognostication from Gartner, more than $1 trillion (£759bn) of IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to cloud in the coming five years.

The aggregate amount of ‘cloud shift’ in 2016 is estimated by Gartner to hit $111 billion, going up to $216bn by 2020. Business process outsourcing – with the cloud segment of course being business process as a service (BPaaS) – has a cloud shift rate of 43%, with a cloud shift of $42bn out of a $119bn overall market size. Application software (SaaS), comparatively, has a cloud shift of 37%, compared with system infrastructure (IaaS, 17%), and application infrastructure software (PaaS, 10%).

“Cloud-first strategies are the foundation for staying relevant in a fast-paced world,” said Ed Anderson, research vice president at Gartner. “The market for cloud services has grown to such an extent that it is now a notable percentage of total IT spending, helping to create a new generation of startups and ‘born in the cloud’ providers.

“As organisations pursue a new IT architecture and operating philosophy, they become prepared for new opportunities in digital business, including next-generation IT solutions such as the Internet of Things,” added Anderson. “Furthermore, organisations embracing dynamic, cloud-based operating models position themselves better for cost optimisation and increased competitiveness.”

Angelo Di Ventura, a director at IT services provider Trustmarque, argues there is ultimately no one-size-fits-all model for making cloud work for a business. “A combination of dated licensing models not designed for cloud, a lack of compatibility of existing business applications and the intricacies of cloud integration all pose questions for today’s organisations,” he said. “The transition from an internet-enabled business to a digital business running in the cloud represents a huge jump for the majority of IT departments, whose existing infrastructure is designed for ‘business as usual’ operations.”

Back in 2013, Gartner argued that service led solutions – SaaS, IaaS, PaaS – will begin to displace more traditional sourcing methods by 2015. Among more recent research, Gartner assessed that the global CRM software market totalled $26.3bn in 2015, up 12.3% from the year before.

Microsoft, Miscellaneous IT, Video

Preview of Microsoft Stream – a New Business Video Service

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced they are offering a free preview of Microsoft Stream, a new business video service. Anyone with a business email can now sign up for a preview. Microsoft’s goal of the new offering is to allow employees to communicate and collaborate with video in an easier way. Currently, Microsoft is delivering the following features:

  • Sign up in seconds: Get started with Microsoft Stream in as few as five seconds with easy signup and no credit card requirements.
  • Easily upload and organize your video: With easy drag and drop capabilities, upload your videos and organize them by either starting a channel or contributing to a channel based on team, group, topic etc.
  • Discover relevant content: Enhanced content discovery through “trending” videos powered by machine learning, as well as search by hashtag, most liked videos and other key search terms.
  • Watch anywhere, on any device, anytime: View videos in Microsoft Stream on all your devices from anywhere, anytime.
  • Secure video management: Manage who views your video content by determining how widely to share within your organization, and to what channels. Secure application access is enabled by Azure Active Directory, a recognized leader in identity management systems, to protect sensitive corporate content.
  • Follow what matters: Follow channels to see content you want in your Microsoft Stream homepage.
  • Engage with content: Socialize videos by sharing via email, “Like” your favorites and embed videos to webpages within your organization.

To get the full scoop on Microsoft Stream, check out their blog post.

 

Looking for more information around Microsoft cloud solutions? Download our recent webinar!

By Ben Stephenson, Emerging Media Specialist

 

cyber security, data centre, Financial Results, Intel, IoT, News & Analysis, Personal Computing

Intel grows despite the PC continuing its slow decline

IntelIntel has reported 3% growth, including a 5% boost in its data centre business, though the client computing unit continues its slow decline, reports Telecoms.com.

The company’s efforts to redefine itself are seemingly beginning to pay dividends as a 3% year-on-year decline to $7.3 billion in the client computing business unit was offset by healthy performances elsewhere in the organization. The data centre unit brought in $4 billion in revenues, up 5%, whereas IoT accounted for $572 million, an increase in 2%, and the security portfolio grew 10% to $554 million for the quarter. The Programmable Solutions group also saw a 30% boost to $465 million. Overall quarterly earnings grew 3% to $13.5 billion.

“Our top line results for the quarter came in right in line with outlook, and profitability this quarter exceeded our expectations,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. “Year-over-year growth this quarter was 3% overall, as we transform Intel into a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart connected devices. We continue to focus on growth in line with this transformation, as evidenced by results in the data centre, IoT, and Programmable Solutions business this quarter.”

Looking forward, the team is forecasting Q3 will bring in revenues of roughly $14.9 billion, which would represent 3% year-on-year growth. Client computing is expected to continue its decline in the high single digits, while double-digit growth is anticipated in the data centre business, funded by cloud players in the second half of the year. CFO Stacy Smith believes growth in the IoT, data centre and memory businesses will counteract any negative impact of client computing.

While the data centre business continues to demonstrate growth for Intel, overnight trading saw share price decline by 3% following the earnings announcement. Investors were anticipating higher growth levels for the data centre group, as Intel forecasted double digit growth previously.

Intel’s efforts to redefine the focus and perception of the business has been ongoing for some time, as the personal computing market segment, Intel’s traditional cash cow, has continued to erode. Back in April, Krzanich outlined the company’s future focus on the company blog, which is split into five sections; cloud technology, IoT, memory and programmable solutions, 5G and developing new technologies under the concept of Moore’s law.

“Our strategy itself is about transforming Intel from a PC company to a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices,” said Krzanich in the blog entry. “But what does that future look like? I want to outline how I see the future unfolding and how Intel will continue to lead and win as we power the next generation of technologies.

“There is a clear virtuous cycle here – the cloud and data centre, the Internet of Things, memory and FPGA’s are all bound together by connectivity and enhanced by the economics of Moore’s Law. This virtuous cycle fuels our business, and we are aligning every segment of our business to it.”

While the IoT business only grew 2% year-on-year, it would be worth noting this is off the back of a healthy Q1 which saw the unit grow 22%. Krzanich linked the Q2 performance, which was below the teams expectations, to an inventory burn following a strong performance in the first quarter. The team now anticipate double-digit growth through the remainder of 2016.

This was also the second consecutive quarter in which the security portfolio was listed as a separate business unit, previously being incorporated into the software and services unit. The group itself has demonstrated healthy growth over the course of 2016, but has been the topic of speculation surrounding a sale.

Only last month the team were rumoured to be considering a sale of its security business, which was created following the $7.6 billion acquisition of antivirus specialists McAfee in 2010. Although security is one of the larger sections of the Intel business, it was not specifically mentioned as a focus point for the future business strategy during Krzanich’s blog entry in April. While the prospective sale has not been confirmed by the Intel team, separating the unit in the financials could indicate it is attempting to provide a greater level of transparency for potential buyers.

Business Transformation, Enterprise IT, Gartner, News & Analysis, skills gap

Cloud computing will impact $1 trillion of IT spending decisions – Gartner

Growing Money - Chart In RiseAnalyst firm Gartner has predicted more than $1 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly impacted by the transition to cloud computing by 2020.

As IT spend steadily shifts from traditional IT offerings through to the cloud, a process which the Gartner team has coined the ‘cloud shift’, the rate in which enterprise organizations transition through to cloud is expected to gradually increase year-on-year. The aggregate amount of cloud shift in 2016 is estimated to reach $111 billion, though this will increase to $216 billion in 2020. The Gartner team believe cloud computing will be one of the most disruptive forces of IT spending since the early days of the digital age.

“Cloud-first strategies are the foundation for staying relevant in a fast-paced world,” said Ed Anderson, Research VP at Gartner. “The market for cloud services has grown to such an extent that it is now a notable percentage of total IT spending, helping to create a new generation of start-ups and “born in the cloud” providers.”

In terms of the specific segments, IaaS is the largest market accounting for $294 billion, though demonstrates one of the lowest levels of cloud shift through 2016, only representing a cloud shift rate of 17%. Business Process Outsourcing, or BPaaS, will represent the biggest cloud shift rate at 43%, though the expected market value through 2016 will be $119 billion.

Gartner Cloud Shift 1

Cloud Shift Summary by Market Segment

While the potential of cloud computing has been exhaustively discussed over recent years, one of the growing debates in the industry has been centred on the skills gap. Cloud requires not only new skills within the organization, but also a different approach in problem solving as well as a new business culture, should be benefits be realized. This challenge is currently being addressed by numerous organizations throughout the world.

“There is no doubt that cloud delivers unmatched business benefits in terms of usability, choice and agility,” said Angelo Di Ventura, Director at Trustmarque. “At the same time it requires wholly new skills and capabilities, and a complete IT transformation to maximise the value that businesses can gain from it – cloud can cause considerable disruption if left unchecked.

“The transition from an internet-enabled business to a digital business running in the cloud represents a huge jump for the majority of IT departments, whose existing infrastructure is designed for ‘business as usual’ operations. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all model when it comes to making cloud work for a business.”

 

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The rise of multi-cloud: What you need to know to succeed in your deployment

(c)iStock.com/Alija

Multi-cloud has been discussed within the cloud computing industry for a while, but there is still confusion about what it is and where it fits within the terminology of private, public, and hybrid cloud.

What most agree on is that multi-cloud is about mixing and matching the best-of-breed solutions and services from different cloud providers to create the most suitable solution for a business. It minimises the amount of vendor lock-in and gives organisations more flexibility with their cloud solution over different price-points and by leveraging relative strengths, advantages, and geographic locations.

A recent Dimensional Research survey of more than 650 IT decision-makers found that 77 percent of businesses are planning to implement multi-cloud architectures in the near future. This signifies a big change in perspective for business leaders when you consider that cloud adoption for businesses was relatively uncommon five years ago. It also demonstrates that the benefits of multi-cloud can be applied to a wide range of sectors and industries.

Why adopt multi-cloud solutions?

There are a number of benefits that multi-cloud deployments bring, including:

  • Improve disaster recovery and geo-presence
  • Ability to use unique cloud-specific services from different providers as they are needed
  • Ability to leverage the public cloud benefits of low-cost and unlimited scalability in order to move agile applications to the cloud
  • Use of a private cloud for red-tape bound applications or more traditional infrastructure

The phrase “don’t place all your eggs in one basket” is equally applicable to cloud environments. To spread risk across multiple platforms minimises the possibility of downtime as well as being able to be make the most of public cloud cost-savings without being locked into one vendor.

With a multi-cloud disaster recovery plan, businesses become more resilient than ever. Being able to failover from one public cloud provider to another means a business can still carry on as usual, even in the unlikely scenario of one provider being unavailable.

Multi-cloud also gives companies the ability to take advantage of cloud data centres based in various geographic regions. Directing traffic to data centres closest to users based on their location is vital for latency-sensitive applications. Storing data locally also minimises issues over data sovereignty.

Nobody said it was easy

It can be challenging to manage your solutions across different cloud environments and from different vendors. Whilst this is not necessarily an immediate problem, if not monitored and controlled properly, operational issues start stacking up at a rapid speed,  leading to difficulty maintaining access control, bug patches and security updates.

Additionally, the flipside to the potential for multi-cloud cost savings is that the complexity of the different cloud environments can make it difficult to understand the pricing differentiators among all of the cloud providers and the various services that they offer.

The importance of a helping hand

Navigating and managing multi-cloud solutions can be daunting if you do not have an experienced in-house IT team to keep on top of it all. Not only this, managing cloud services takes up time and IT resources which could be better spent elsewhere in the business, such as creating new features and supporting customers.

Many organisations are therefore turning to a managed cloud services provider to assist them with their multi-cloud solution. By partnering with a trusted partner, companies can avoid many of the pitfalls associated with multi-cloud. For instance, by using a proprietary single pane of glass solution from a managed cloud services provider, companies can check all is well with their cloud services from one place. Companies can also utilise their cloud services more efficiently and easily monitor changes and updates.

Long-term management and maintenance of the multi-cloud deployment can be carried out by the provider, which gives the benefit of round-the-clock support to ensure any issues are promptly resolved.

The future of the multi-cloud and what lies ahead

A study conducted by IDC last year found that 86% of enterprises predict they will need a multi-cloud approach to support their solutions within the next two years.  Businesses want the best possible infrastructure, services, and platforms.

However, in order to ensure that a company’s multi-cloud deployment is successful, a business’ different cloud services need to function smoothly and cohesively.

A multi-cloud strategy is transformative for businesses, allowing them flexibility to scale offerings, save on hosting solutions, and ultimately offer better solutions to their customers. By keeping a few key factors in mind when considering a multi-cloud infrastructure, companies can guarantee a successful and pain-free transition as well as create opportunities for innovation.

BWOD for school, BYOD for students, Parallels Desktop for Mac, school pc programs on Mac, Students windows on Mac

Students Can BYOD! (Bring Your Own Device)

When we say Students can BYOD – we’re talking about the idea that you aren’t roped into carrying a PC laptop just because you’re in school. Have you ever looked at your class syllabus and felt that *thud* in the pit of your stomach when you realize the software you need for the class doesn’t […]

The post Students Can BYOD! (Bring Your Own Device) appeared first on Parallels Blog.

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