2017 frost & sullivan n. american inbound contact center ... · the customer experience,...

2017 North American Inbound Contact Center Routing Systems

Market Leadership Award

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2017 2 “We Accelerate Growth”

Contents

Background and Company Performance ...................................................................................... 3

Industry Challenges ........................................................................................................... 3

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 7

Significance of Market Leadership .............................................................................................. 8

Understanding Market Leadership .............................................................................................. 8

Key Performance Criteria .......................................................................................................... 9

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices .....10

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ....................................11

Research Methodology ......................................................................................................11

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................................11



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

The rich history of customer contact is firmly rooted in the core systems that are the

bread and butter of early contact centers; inbound contact routing (ICR) or automatic call

distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR) and outbound dialers. As the needs of

customer contact and the customer changed a bevy of new channels, including mobile and

social were added, making the contact center landscape quite complex. A large part of this

complexity is how to marry these channels to provide seamless customer journeys,

eliminating the breakpoints between systems and data silos.

Additional challenges that influence development plans are the need to address home-

based agents, the integration of advanced applications for performance management and

customer interaction, and complementary applications, such as customer relationship

management (CRM).

Cultural changes also affected contact center development. In particular, as Baby

Boomers, whose entrepreneurship and influence created the industry, moved onto other

pursuits or retirement, they were replaced by Millennials and younger generations, who

were brought up using technology. Their needs as workers and consumers greatly affected

both customer service and the contact center in myriad ways. New channels of interaction,

the need for faster resolution time, the desire for more self-service options, and ability to

collaborate and share with others, are just some of the resulting drivers of change contact

center system providers have had to handle.

Broader technology trends also introduced additional hurdles. The move to the cloud

across technology sectors has had a huge effect on system providers, forcing them to

continually transform product stacks to remain relevant. Finally, the drive to provide

global customer support, and handle issues of privacy and security, also are important

factors systems providers have had to address.

Market Leadership of Avaya

Avaya has held a market leadership position in inbound contact routing for years, because

of its legacy of innovation and focus on customer needs. This leadership position is can be

attributed to many factors including the following.

Brand Strength

Avaya’s long history of innovation within the communications and contact center space,

along with an impressively large installed base has firmly cemented Avaya as one of the

most well-known brands in the industry. The company’s roots go back more than a

century, providing it with a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise, and allowing it to

weather the storms of change the contact center industry has gone through. The company

has been at the forefront of these changes, helping to develop broad trends in customer



contact. Among these are the addition of new interaction channels, the focus on improving

the Customer Experience, handling the emerging needs of a changing consumer and

worker landscape, and satisfying the ever present need organizations have to cut costs

and optimize performance.

Besides experience, one of the strengths of the brand has always been its depth of

product portfolio. This has been one of Avaya’s key strengths in addressing the needs of a

broad range of company sizes and industries, and in playing in a competitive market that

ranges from contact center players focused on SMBs to large enterprises to multi-

nationals, and those selling both system and cloud solutions.

To ensure this success continues, earlier this year the company decided to double down

on marketing in order to further extend and refresh brand awareness through the use of

executive interviews, videos, articles, executive briefing center days, and other outreach,

and success is realized by an increase in new customer logos and upgrades.

Customer Purchase Experience

Avaya customers rest easy in the knowledge that the company provides a complete suite

of integrated capabilities, fine-tuned through decades of development and testing. The

portfolio of Avaya Aura solutions is one of the most feature-rich in the industry, with

applications spanning customer contact from ACD, IVR and outbound solutions to mobile,

social and more, enriched with advanced analytics, centralized management and

reporting.

In 2016, the company further strengthened its portfolio with the addition of Avaya Breeze,

Avaya Oceana, Avaya Oceanalytics, and Avaya Oceana Workspaces, as follows:

• Avaya Breeze is a communications, application development and workflow platform

that is designed to allow developers and non-technical staff to create workflows

that connect customers to the best resources and data to assist them, and to

streamline business processes within an organization. Breeze was designed for

ease-of-use, making extensive use of pre-programmed tools and snap-ins of the

most commonly used business processes. Disseminating information to a work

group, sending out alerts and notifications, monitoring calls for compliance,

managing communication preferences for customers are just some examples of the

types of modular components that can be used to quickly design workflows using

Breeze.

• Avaya Oceana, next generation omnichannel solution, is context-driven, fully

integrated and customizable through the open, easy to use Avaya Breeze platform.

It provides simple drag and drop visual workflow capabilities to create and manage

customer journeys across any touch-point including phone, tablets, desktop,

kiosks, the Web, and others, while providing consistent user experiences across all

of them. Avaya Oceana preserves rich context from all touch-points, and uses this



data to personalize customer journeys at each point in the customer journey. The

solution also uses attribute-based matching to manage customer interactions, and

defines business rules by priority, segment, and behavior to pair customers to the

right agents and resources.

• Avaya Oceanalytics, included in Avaya Oceana, is a feature-rich analytics solution

with advanced analytics and reporting capabilities. Avaya Oceanalytics provides

customer journey mapping with context across all touch-points. It also allows for

the collection of data across Avaya and non-Avaya systems both within the contact

center and across the enterprise historically or in real-time, and can be used to

provide rich visualization on Oceana Workspaces or feed into existing visualization

tools such as Oracle, MicroStrategy, SAP and others.

• Avaya Oceana Workspaces is an intuitive, user-friendly desktop for agents,

supervisors and other contact center experts. It provides a cumulative view of

customer journeys across all touch-points, including Avaya and non-Avaya

systems.

Customers can make use of Avaya Breeze to create their own workflows or take

advantage of resources such as Avaya Professional Services, or a partner offer. The

breadth of its portfolio along with premise, cloud, hybrid and managed service offerings

also is particularly attractive to customers as it affords them the flexibility to work with

budgets and infrastructure needs as required.

Customer Ownership Experience

New product additions, such as those above, which focus on ease-of-use, business

outcomes, and improving employee and customer experience, are part of a regular

cadence of development Avaya customers have come to expect over time. In an age

where businesses are defining their competitive advantage in terms of customer service

and experience, having a provider to partner with that understands the concepts of

omnichannel customer journeys and digitally transformative experiences, and can provide

the tools to achieve them is critical to success.

What is interesting to note is one of the early-days marketing mantras of cloud-only

contact center providers was the claim that cloud providers offer customers all-in-one

solution suites, built from the ground up to support customer contact. But every

organization starts at a different part of the journey, not necessarily willing to rip and

replace their infrastructure to start over. Avaya, with its immense installed base of

premise-based customers, has had a long history of helping customers move along the

evolutionary curve from call center, to multichannel and then omnichannel customer care

and offers flexible deployment models - on-premises, cloud, and hybrid - providing

organizations a choice.



This is a core component in why Avaya has been in a leadership position for years. As the

call center went through this evolution, Avaya has acted as a trusted partner to its

growing installed base, by being attuned to the needs of customers and consumers alike,

no matter where they are in the journey from point solutions to digital transformation.

Technology Leverage

Integration of disparate applications is a critical success factor for companies achieving

omnichannel excellence. Avaya assists customers, during any part of this transformation

by providing the building blocks they need to get there. This includes a single data

repository that captures and stores all data across disparate systems and applications

both inside and outside the contact center (including back-office software such as CRM

and marketing automation tools); a single agent desktop; centralized management and

reporting tools; and web services that make it easy to link new technologies as they are

added to a customers’ contact center and business environment.

Furthermore, in keeping with the demands of a changing consumer base that favors self-

service over live assistance, Avaya provides customers with the tools for omnichannel

routing, using a universal routing engine, and data-driven resource matching, that pairs

customers with the right resources at the point of need, balancing digital channels and the

most appropriate live assistance. To achieve outcomes like this, Avaya also draws from its

broad portfolio of partner solutions. For instance, its recent strategic partnership with

Salesforce broadens the capabilities for creating unique customer experiences through an

Avaya-developed connector specifically for Salesforce integration.

Implementation Excellence

Avaya has a solid set of professional services and consulting to assist customers from pre-

sales to implementation. Avaya Professional Services (APS) provides tools, expertise, and

resources to assist customers, no matter what size of project they have, from installation

of new systems or applications, integration of Avaya or partner offerings, or in the

upgrade or replacement of new or existing communications solutions. Customer can chose

one service, or an entire suite of services, based on their needs and technical expertise.

APS also is a global service offering, with many services delivered remotely or on-site if

required. Avaya also has Contact Center consultants who review customer’s contact center

operations, objectives, and business requirements for implementation. A typical

engagement includes data gathering, design, testing, cutover, and go-live support. The

company also provides customization options for additional functionality if required.

Growth Strategy Excellence

In January 2017 Avaya commenced formal proceedings to restructure its balance sheet

and filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy code. At the time the

company assured customers, partners, and other interested parties that it would quickly

emerge as a stronger, better company and would remain keenly focused on minimizing



disruption to customers, partners and employees. Certainly whenever the term bankruptcy

is bandied about it strikes a certain cord of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD), which

provides fodder for the competition to mine for prospects and partners.

It could have frozen Avaya, but it did not. In fact, despite rumblings that Chapter 11

might occur, 2016 turned out to be a solid performing year for Avaya as evidenced by its

market leading position in inbound contact routing systems, and that does not account for

the numbers from selling cloud, hybrid, or managed services either.

The company has sailed through the process, and will emerge later this year in a better

position than ever before, as a public company. Here are a few of the highlights from the

August, 2017 earnings update call to analysts:

• Avaya’s operating business is profitable and generating positive cash flow

• The company continues to invest in R&D at above the industry average

• Avaya has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 49, which is >20 points ahead of key

competitors

• Avaya’s adjusted EBITDA is $204 million or 25.4% of revenue; a record percentage

for a third fiscal quarter

• The company filed an amended plan of reorganization on August 7 with support of

major creditors and expects to emerge from chapter 11 as a public company with

shares traded on NYSE or NASDAQ

• It signed over 2,400 major customer contracts since filing for chapter 11 through

June 30, 2017

Moreover, the company has a solid plan for growth. It has invested heavily in R&D and

marketing. It recently revamped its partner program, and while is typical during a

transition such as this, it had some partners waver, but the majority have stayed the

course and are doing really well selling the portfolio. Also, with the final stages of

restructuring taking place, any deals on hold waiting for resolution will only increase the

pipeline.

Conclusion

Avaya remains a stalwart leader in customer contact, with an enviable portfolio of

products and partner offers, backed by solid consulting and professional services support.

Avaya has achieved a leadership position in the Contact Center Systems market, with a

market share of 17.4%. With its strong overall performance and Frost & Sullivan is proud

to present to Avaya, the 2017 Market Leadership Award for Contact Center Systems in

North America.



Significance of Market Leadership

Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from a

company, and then making the decision to return time and again. Loyal customers

become brand advocates; brand advocates recruit new customers; the company grows;

and then it attains market leadership. To achieve and maintain market leadership, an

organization must strive to be best-in-class in three key areas: understanding demand,

nurturing the brand, and differentiating from the competition. This three-fold approach to

delivering market leadership is explored further below.

Understanding Market Leadership

As discussed on the previous page, driving demand, strengthening the brand, and

differentiating from the competition all play a critical role in a company’s path to market

leadership. This three-fold focus, however, is only the beginning of the journey and must

be complemented by an equally rigorous focus on the customer experience. Best-practice

organizations, therefore, commit to the customer at each stage of the buying cycle and

continue to nurture the relationship once the customer has made a purchase. In this way,

they build a loyal, ever-growing customer base and methodically add to their market

share over time.



Key Performance Criteria

For the Market Leadership Award, we focused on specific criteria to determine the areas of

performance excellence that led to the company’s leadership position. The criteria we

considered include (although not limited to) the following:

Criterion Requirement

Growth Strategy Excellence Demonstrated ability to consistently identify, prioritize,

and pursue emerging growth opportunities

Implementation Excellence

Processes support the efficient and consistent

implementation of tactics designed to support the

strategy

Brand Strength The possession of a brand that is respected, recognized,

and remembered

Product Quality

The product or service receives high marks for

performance, functionality, and reliability at every stage

of the life cycle

Product Differentiation

The product or service has carved out a market niche,

whether based on price, quality, or uniqueness of

offering (or some combination of the three) that another

company cannot easily duplicate

Technology Leverage

Demonstrated commitment to incorporating leading-edge

technologies into product offerings, for greater product

performance and value

Price/Performance Value Products or services offer the best value for the price,

compared to similar offerings in the market

Customer Purchase Experience

Customers feel they are buying the most optimal solution

that addresses both their unique needs and their unique

constraints

Customer Ownership Experience

Customers are proud to own the company’s product or

service, and have a positive experience throughout the

life of the product or service

Customer Service Experience Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of

high quality



Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching,

Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices

Our analyst team strives to follow a 10-step process (illustrated below) to evaluate Award

candidates and assess their fit with our best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity

of our Awards are based on close adherence to this process.

STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

1 Monitor, target, and screen

Identify Award recipient candidates from around the globe

• Conduct in-depth industry research

• Identify emerging sectors

• Scan multiple geographies

Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all best-practice criteria

2 Perform 360-degree research

Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline

• Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners

• Assess candidates’ fit with best-practice criteria

• Rank all candidates

Matrix positioning of all candidates’ performance relative to one another

3

Invite thought leadership in best practices

Perform in-depth examination of all candidates

• Confirm best-practice criteria • Examine eligibility of all

candidates • Identify any information gaps

Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates

4

Initiate research director review

Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles

• Brainstorm ranking options • Invite multiple perspectives

on candidates’ performance • Update candidate profiles

Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper

5

Assemble panel of industry experts

Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders

• Share findings • Strengthen cases for

candidate eligibility • Prioritize candidates

Refined list of prioritized Award candidates

6

Conduct global industry review

Build consensus on Award candidates’ eligibility

• Hold global team meeting to review all candidates

• Pressure-test fit with criteria • Confirm inclusion of all

eligible candidates

Final list of eligible Award candidates, representing success stories worldwide

7 Perform quality check

Develop official Award consideration materials

• Perform final performance benchmarking activities

• Write nominations • Perform quality review

High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees’ successes

8

Reconnect with panel of industry experts

Finalize the selection of the best-practice Award recipient

• Review analysis with panel • Build consensus • Select recipient

Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria

9 Communicate recognition

Inform Award recipient of Award recognition

• Present Award to the CEO • Inspire the organization for

continued success • Celebrate the recipient’s

performance

Announcement of Award and plan for how recipient can use the Award to enhance the brand

10 Take strategic action

Upon licensing, company is able to share Award news with stakeholders and customers

• Coordinate media outreach • Design a marketing plan • Assess Award’s role in future

strategic planning

Widespread awareness of recipient’s Award status among investors, media personnel, and employees



The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research

methodology represents the analytical

rigor of our research process. It offers a

360-degree-view of industry challenges,

trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of

Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies.

Too often companies make important

growth decisions based on a narrow

understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

commission. Successful growth strategies

are founded on a thorough understanding

of market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and demographic

analyses. The integration of these research

disciplines into the 360-degree research

methodology provides an evaluation

platform for benchmarking industry

participants and for identifying those performing at best-in-class levels.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth

and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's

Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined

research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation

of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages more than 50 years of

experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses, and the

investment community from 45 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership,

please visit http://www.frost.com.

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN

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