Considering the Cloud The Forrester Wave Did the Homework

When it’s time to upgrade your contact center software to be cloud-based, one of the biggest headaches is doing the homework on viable solutions. It’s the start of a new year, and like many other organizations, you’re probably knee-deep in the process of planning and budgeting to meet the strong business goals you’ve set—or that have been set for you.

If you’re looking for help in deciphering the strengths and weaknesses of the industry’s most notable cloud contact center software providers, you’ll want to put The Forrester Wave™: Cloud Contact Centers, Q3 2018 at the top of your reading list. In their 32-criterion evaluation of cloud contact center providers, Forrester identified the 11 most significant vendors and researched, analyzed, and scored them. The result is an independent, all-points buyer’s guide to help educate contact centers of all sizes on the virtues of top cloud innovators.

Plan for 2019 trends

In 2019, pressures will continue to grow for operations looking to improve and differentiate with enhanced customer experience, while keeping budgets flat. That means many aging on-premises contact center technologies simply won’t cut it. For this reason, many organizations are looking to move to the cloud contact center model with urgency. The Forrester Wave report notes, “As on-premises contact center technology becomes outdated and less effective, improved systems architected for cloud-based delivery that support AI, workforce optimization (WFO) (which includes quality management, workforce management and more), and omnichannel will dictate which providers lead the pack.”

Small and midsize businesses have been drawn to the flexibility and low overhead of Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) for several years. Now, large enterprises are confidently turning to leading CCaaS providers to deliver the rich functionality and customization needed to power sophisticated CX, while meeting stringent requirements in reliability, security and global voice connectivity.

A leg up on RFP/RFI activities

For organizations looking to identify and narrow their short list of CCaaS vendors and move the RFP/RFI process along most productively, the Forrester Wave is a fantastic resource. Forrester’s deep focus on each vendor’s specific platform and the multi-point evaluation methodology they employ makes the Forrester Wave a very good proxy for your RFP process—and a ready-made buyer’s guide to broadly inform your solution decision-making.

Forrester approaches their Forrester Wave report using a publicly available methodology that involves screening vendors, detailed questionnaires, and customer reference check—not unlike your own organization’s new technology RFP and evaluation process.

Download the full Forrester Wave report to learn what they uncovered about NICE and other cloud contact center software contenders.

Next Time: How can the Forrester Wave directly impact your RFP/RFI quality?