DMG Consulting's sixth annual Contact Center Workforce Management Market
Report gives contact center, back-office and IT managers unparalleled vendor,
product, functional, technical and pricing information. The 368-page Report
provides analysis and insights about products, vendors, industry trends and
challenges, as well as best practices to help users realize the greatest
continuing return on their technology investments. The Contact Center
Workforce Management Market Report is designed to help organizations select
the right solution, technology, functionality and partner to meet their
current and future workforce management (WFM) needs.
The contact center WFM market has been enjoying a solid run for the last few
years, and 2012 was no exception. WFM solutions are evolving, becoming more
robust and easier to use. New vendors continue to enter the market, bringing
with them new ideas and increasing pressure on incumbent leaders. Delivery
models are becoming more flexible, enabling users to take advantage of WFM
on-site or in the cloud with ease. And businesses are realizing how valuable
and effective WFM solutions are when they're in use and not sitting on the
shelf.
Evolving organizational needs and a series of trends are converging, driving
unprecedented interest and innovation in WFM solutions. Trends include the
continued growth of cloud-based offerings, the increasing needs of back-office
and branch operations, and the changing workforce that now includes Millenials
who require a work/life balance that can be effectively addressed with a
workforce management solution.
The Cloud - Acquiring a WFM solution has become easier in recent
years with the advent of the cloud. This lower-cost yet functionally sound
delivery method is gaining ground among small and mid-sized businesses, as
well as the larger organizations. The cloud may not be the right path for all
organizations, but there are significant time, cost and flexibility benefits
to be realized for the right users. Most WFM vendors claim to have cloud-based
WFM offerings, but there is more to it than simply placing a solution in a
cloud-based data center. DMG advises end users to make sure vendor claims are
backed by a true cloud-based value chain, including architecture,
provisioning, support structure and implementation model.
The Back Office - Contact centers have historically used WFM to
forecast interaction volumes and determine the proper number of resources with
the necessary skills to achieve service level goals. Back-office managers,
under pressure to reduce operating and staff-related costs, rework and
backlog, are looking to the contact center for help. However, DMG cautions
users that WFM solutions developed solely for contact centers are not designed
to meet back-office needs today. DMG expects interest in and application of
WFM solutions in back-office operating groups to grow substantially over the
next five years, particularly as more solutions come to market that are
customized to address these departments' unique challenges.
The New Workforce - The “always-on” American way of
working does not sit so well with the next generation of employees now joining
the workforce - the Millenials. They feel strongly that their work-life
balance is as important as their paycheck. Most employers are hard-pressed to
evolve and adjust their culture. Some of today's WFM solutions include
features and automation that support agent empowerment and satisfaction,
helping supervisors balance productivity demands with agent expectations. An
important module for empowering agents is the Web-based self-service portal,
which allows agents to enter their schedule preferences and automate time-off
management; prioritizing agent preferences in scheduling is a global trend
that has been important in Europe for years and is now starting to catch on in
North America. Most of these self-service modules are mobile-enabled, allowing
tech-savvy agents to receive timely notification of schedule changes or
responses to requests. DMG expects to see growing interest in the area of
self-service scheduling and agent preference management in the next few years
to address the demands of new workforce, or risk creating an unprecedented
attrition challenge.
Vendors are responding to a multitude of opportunities to improve the
effectiveness of workforce management solutions with new solutions or
enhancements such as improved user interfaces (UIs) and new functionality with
more flexible features to accommodate complex environments. End users have
more choices, thanks to European market contenders and emerging US-based
competitors who are introducing new approaches and cost-effective solutions
for companies of all sizes. The challenge for current and prospective users is
to find the application that will best meet their needs. Many of the
“old faithfuls,” though proven effective and packed with features,
are increasingly perceived as unnecessarily complex and expensive. On the
other side are the more nimble, less costly newcomers that offer a streamlined
user experience but perhaps not the depth of functionality or referenceability
of their larger competitors. DMG expects to see substantial investments from
both emerging and existing competitors during the next few years, which will
result in better WFM solutions coming to market. Today, however, there is
something for everyone on the WFM menu. It is more important than ever for
users to perform due diligence and assess the pros and cons of various
offerings, as not all of the solutions are “ready for prime time.“
Overall, the contact center WFM market is stronger than ever. 2012 was the
best year in its history. The market is at the start of a refresh cycle that
is expected to last for the next five years, so DMG expects WFM to attract
replacements and new sales at unprecedented rates. DMG projects that the WFM
market will grow by 10% in 2013 and 2014, and by 8% in 2015.
The 2013 Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report is the most
comprehensive, fact-based and timely analysis of this mature yet changing
technology sector. This Report evaluates both market leaders and lesser-known
competitors to give readers an appreciation of the range of offerings
available in the market. It provides a detailed review of seven leading and
contending WFM vendors: Aspect, Calabrio, Genesys, Interactive Intelligence,
NICE/IEX, Teleopti and Verint. Four other providers - eg solutions, Holy-Dis,
Intradiem and WorkFlex - are covered at a high level. Although the 2013
Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report focuses on contact center
solutions, it also addresses the needs of the emerging back-office market, and
includes a WFM Vendor Directory listing 44 providers of WFM capabilities.
Key Reasons to Buy This Report
State of the market: Overview of the contact center WFM market with
a breakdown and review of the core, value-added and optional functional
components (building blocks) that comprise a contact center WFM solution
Competitive overview and market share analysis: High-level review
of the competitive landscape, along with comprehensive corporate, technical,
financial and functional side-by-side comparisons of 11 leading and contending
vendors and their solutions, market share data, adoption analysis and
projections
Product comparisons: Company reports examining all aspects of
generally available and upcoming WFM solutions, including differentiators,
challenges and future research and development (R&D) plans, along with
criteria for choosing a delivery model
Insights into new and emerging functionality: A look at product
innovation that has recently been introduced into the market, as well as what
is expected over the next 12-18 months, including a preview of emerging
back-office WFO solutions and their core and value-added modules
Pricing and ROI: Detailed pricing comparisons and analyses for
premise-based, cloud and managed service WFM solutions, and an examination of
the ROI and benefits enterprises should expect to realize from a successful
WFM implementation
Best practices for end users and vendors: Review of operational
best practices for contact center managers and agents, insight into what end
users should expect from a successful WFM implementation, and vendor best
practices for implementing WFM solutions
End-user commentary: Comprehensive, independent vendor satisfaction
analysis revealing end users' opinions of each vendor's products,
implementation, training, professional services, support,
innovation/responsiveness and pricing
Comprehensive WFM Vendor Directory featuring 44 leading and
contending WFM competitors
Report Highlights:
Contact center WFM is a hot commodity: Adoption of contact center
and back-office WFM solutions increased to 47.2%. The market is changing,
solutions are improving and users are realizing significant quantifiable
benefits as well as a happier workforce.
The cloud, the back office, and an evolving workforce spell change for
WFM: Several factors, including changing user needs, are affecting this
long-standing yet very dynamic sector.
Lots of people want to leverage WFM in the cloud, and the available
options are plentiful. Vendors that do not yet have a cloud-based offering
are working feverishly to secure a spot in the cloud landscape, creating a
highly competitive environment that can benefit users.
The back office wants to realize the same staffing structure, economies
and efficiencies that contact centers have enjoyed by applying workforce
management to their environment. The opportunity to bring WFM solutions to
the back office is enormous, but applying a front-office WFM application
that has not been customized to meet the unique challenges of back-office
operations is not the answer.
Scheduling is a big deal to Millenials - they want to work when they
want to work, and live when they want to live. Companies are trying to
address this need with enhanced best practices and improved solutions.
Vendors are helping by delivering WFM solutions that prioritize
agent-scheduling preferences and come with Web-based self-service scheduling
tools that are mobile-friendly for the tech-savvy worker.
WFM is a two-way street: Vendors are responding to market
opportunities in many ways, but the market is more bifurcated than ever. The
incumbent market leaders are less flexible and more expensive than their newer
competitors. There are real and serious trade-offs that users must carefully
consider with regard to functionality, flexibility, ease of use and price.
More market activity to come: The contact center WFM market is at the
start of a refresh cycle that is expected to last for the next five years. DMG
projects that the WFM market will grow by 10% in 2013 and 2014, and by 8% in
2015.
DMG Consulting LLC was founded by Donna Fluss, a former VP and Research Director with Gartner's CRM practice. DMG Consulting specializes in customer-focused business strategy, operations and technology for Global 2000 and emerging companies.
DMG Consulting LLC's industry-leading business strategists, operations managers, marketing communications experts and CFOs have an average of 20 years experience in building and enhancing successful customer-oriented businesses.
DMG Consulting's renowned industry reports are based on thousands of hours of primary market research each year. Our Reports provide the most detailed and in-depth analysis of vendors, products, functionality, market share, trends, pricing and best practices.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. DMG Consulting Research Methodology
3.1. Report Participation Criteria
4. Workforce Management Market Segments
5. Workforce Management Functional Building Blocks
5.1. Core, Value-Added and Optional Modules
6. WFM Service Delivery Models
7. Workforce Management Trends and Challenges
8. Workforce Management Market Innovation
8.1. New Product Features
8.2. Future Enhancements
9. The Emergence of Back-Office WFO
10. The Back-Office Staff Optimization Opportunity
10.1. Optimizing Staff Resources to Meet Business Needs
Figure 90: Reporting, Dashboards, Alerts and Scorecards
Figure 91: Time-Off Management
Figure 92: Long-Term Planning and Budgeting
2013 - 2014 Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report published by DMG Consulting LLC in May 8, 2013. This report consists of 368 Pages and the price starts from US $ 4250.
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