2015 global contact center solutions integration … global contact center solutions integration...

2015

2015 Global Contact Center Solutions Integration Customer Value Leadership Award

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2 “We Accelerate Growth”

Contents

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

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

Customer Impact and Business Impact of Dimension Data ........................................ 5

Conclusion........................................................................................................... 8

Significance of Customer Value Leadership .................................................................... 9

Understanding Customer Value Leadership .................................................................... 9

Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................. 10

Best Practice Award Analysis for Dimension Data ........................................................ 10

Decision Support Scorecard ................................................................................. 10

Customer Impact ............................................................................................... 11

Business Impact ................................................................................................. 11

Decision Support Matrix ...................................................................................... 12

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 13

Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 13

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 14

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 15



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

Customer contact systems integrators and value-added resellers, or “solution integrators”,

(SIs) have long given customers a choice when it comes to implementing one or more

systems, applications, and networks. The workhorses of the industry, laser focused on

customer outcomes, these companies connect original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),

hosted solutions firms, and their customer companies, supplementing professional

services and bridging the gaps in integration expertise.

In a world in which the contact center is no longer an island and viewed as a cost center,

but instead a multi-channel customer engagement hub, the need for such expertise is

even more critical than before. In particular, other areas of the business are now crucially

intersecting with customer contact making the technical landscape even more complex.

There are several industry trends intensifying this complexity - challenging SIs to keep

abreast with talent and expertise, including:

The Push for Omnichannel Customer Care

For over a decade the contact center industry has been providing multi-channel customer

contact, but now has steadily moved in the direction of omnichannel customer

engagement. Frost & Sullivan defines omnichannel as seamless and effortless, high-

quality customer experiences that occur within and between contact channels. It ensures

that data and context from the initial contact carries over to subsequent channels,

reducing customer effort, improving the customer interaction, and enabling the business

to tailor the customer journey.

This is no small feat as businesses have added new channels over time, often from

disparate vendors, and sometimes with ownership originating in areas outside the contact

center. Integration, the bread and butter of the SI world, has been challenged with the

integration or removal of the system, application and data silos that are a result of the

disjointed addition of multiple customer interaction channels, either as independent

efforts, or as the result of growth through mergers and acquisitions. SIs also are

chartered with being a trusted advisor in the creation of omnichannel implementation

roadmaps, and facilitation of cross-organizational ownership and support strategies.

Additionally, SIs also may have to integrate omnichannel contact center solutions with the

back office, unified communications (UC) applications, CRM, and other business

applications.



The Rise of the Cloud and Turnover of the Installed Base

In 2014, revenues for cloud-based contact center solutions surpassed premise-based

solutions for the first time. Frost & Sullivan research forecasts market revenues from

cloud-based solutions will grow from $4 billion in 2015 to $8 billion by 2020.

This has created an opportunity for SIs to assist clients in managing the movement of

applications and operations to the cloud, in many cases as part of hybrid deployments.

This has accelerated as the massive installed base of systems and applications within

contact centers nears end-of-life, cannot support some of the newer channels, and lacks

much of the rich functionality now required for multi and omnichannel delivery. However,

there also are several concurrent challenges trending for SIs, among them:

Globalization

It is true the world is shrinking when it comes to business. With e-commerce, movement

to the cloud, and other factors, many businesses have gone global. This has introduced

the challenge of requiring in-country expertise, multiple regional and local solution

provider offerings tailored to regions that need to be supported, as well as the creation of

global networks to support applications.

Proving Value

With the move to the cloud, some companies have jumped from premise-based systems

to cloud-based solutions as a way of cost cutting, at the behest of creating the optimum

contact environment. All-in-one suites may suffice, but other times not be as rich in

function as a company may require. Off the shelf integrations and standard APIs may be

chosen over custom implementations. System integrators are therefore challenged to

prove they fill the gap by being able to help select, and then aggregate best-of-breed

solutions with incumbent vendor offerings or along with suites of products.

In addition, industry consolidation and the movement to the cloud by legacy vendors have

reduced the number of competitive products that require specific industry expertise.

Moreover, these same vendors have aggressively moved to simplifying their offerings,

making installation easier, and lessening reliance on outside consultation. Finally, many

have pumped up their professional services organizations, cutting into SI’s core markets.

In order to stay competitive in the contact center market, SIs must respond to these

challenges and changing market conditions, proving their value to customers.



Customer Impact and Business Impact of Dimension Data

Criterion 1: Ownership Experience

The term trusted partner is the hallmark of systems integration. In this category

Dimension Data excels across its portfolio of products and services. The company takes a

solid partnership approach to client acquisition, whether an SMB or a well recognized

global brand, cultivating relationships that start long before the solution is implemented,

across the life time of that relationship. Core to the partnership approach is the attitude

that is fostered by the corporate goals of Dimension Data – “Accelerating Your Ambition”

and “Client at the centre of everything” which drives its 28 thousand employees to

accelerate their ambition for themselves, customers, shareholders, and finally, to make a

difference in society.

The breadth of offerings it can provide, the balance of technology vendors, and the ability

for the company to support architectures across different vendors is impressive, and a

critical differentiator, particularly for clients with mixed vendor environments.

However, what separates Dimension Data from the majority of global systems integrators

in the contact center space is in the breadth of expertise it brings to an enterprise’s entire

operations. This includes:

• Customer Experience (CX) Solutions

o Digital and Contact Centre solutions

• Collaboration solutions

• Partnerships

• Global platforms with local delivery

• Employee productivity services

• Global IT services

• Security, protection and risk

• Professional services

• Technology experience

• Co-location

• Managed data centers

• Technology expertise

The company also displays a strong market driven approach with clients. The company is

well versed in the implementation of premise-based systems across numerous partner

products. However, it also has a long history of supplying cloud options for customers, as

well as hybrid solutions. Indeed, it recognizes that the majority of clients have issues with



moving to the cloud, and one of the core strengths it brings is the ability to move portions

of the entire network and application solutions to the cloud, while leaving others on-

premise.

In addition, Dimension Data has put forth a significant investment in building out a

managed services offering across its portfolio including contact center and UC. These

solutions provide a high degree of process automation to reduce operational costs and

complexity, improve quality of service, and ensure compliance with corporate policies.

The services are also consistent across geographies so that they are delivered in a

standard way, instead of being customized per region, further increasing consistency and

lowering complexity.

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Customers gravitate to Dimension Data because of its proven longevity and expertise in

providing complete solutions, across the enterprise, but also enabling its customers to

innovate using technology, taking into account their unique needs and constraints.

At the spring global industry analyst event in May, Dimension Data showcased several

customers that are representative of creating a lasting relationship that takes advantage

of the breadth of what the company has to offer. For example, AirBus, a division of Airbus

Group, a premier provider of aircraft worldwide, started a partnership with Dimension

Data in 2000 and has evolved its entire operations from technical to collaboration between

worldwide divisions, since then. At the outset Airbus had divisions that spanned private

and public sector, with manufacturing spread out over multiple countries to produce a

single aircraft, producing some unique challenges to address.

The partnership started with an architectural design as to what should happen over the

next decade, and then was delivered upon, with the creation of a worldwide IP

infrastructure, including video services and collaboration, and which eventually grew to

encompass both the private and public sector sides of Airbus. The results produced:

• 400K network ports

• 20K nomad users

• 21K incidents a year

• 133 IPT and UC users

• 180K Visio sessions per year

• 99.8% availability

More importantly, Dimension Data enabled Airbus to lower costs, reduce risk, improve its

service performance and competitiveness, and be an innovator in its industry.



Companies also benefit from Dimension Data’s depth of industry expertise, with

employees certified in an array of partner solutions, particularly Cisco and Avaya in the

contact center space. This is also backed by a highly developed understanding of what

customers need to improve customer service. For instance, unusual for a systems

integration and solutions provider, Dimension Data has produced an annual benchmarking

survey for customer contact since 1997. The company, along with Merchants, a

Dimension Data BPO customer contact company, has used the research to keep abreast of

industry trends and challenges, and help it drive product strategy and develop innovative

solutions and services for customers. The report contains some of the most

comprehensive year-over-year research in the industry. The company has also developed

similar assets directly impacting customer contact, as well as all areas of the business. Its

Global Threat Intelligence Report 2015, which surveyed 18,000 clients on security issues,

is a stellar example of this.

Criterion 3: Service Experience

As a trusted partner, Dimension Data creates strong SLAs with clients to hit specific goals.

Whether that is reduced costs, reduced carbon footprint, or increased operational

efficiency, customers have reported a strong return on investment through working with

the company. Comments also have focused on the fast response time that Dimension

Data has provided when things have gone awry, and that the trust level is very high that

issues will be taken care of quickly and efficiently.

Further enabling clients to match their needs to service delivery is the choice of

deployment models that Dimension Data offers. Solutions are available on-premise, in the

cloud, as a hybrid model or as SaaS model. Additionally, through partners, the company

has rolled out the OneCloud program, which is essentially cloud-in-a-box which partners

can take to market as their brand, but Dimension Data provides the hardware and

software for. All of this is backed with strong service guarantees.

Criterion 4: Brand Equity

In its over thirty year tenure, Dimension Data has created a strong brand image, that not

only captured the attention of NTT, which then acquired the company in 2010, but of

numerous marquis partner prospects that have contributed to the product and services

ecosystem Dimension Data customers enjoy.

For instance, the company is Cisco’s number one integration partner, with a relationship

that extends over 24 years. In 2015, it garnered partner of the year in all three of Cisco’s

regions, and an additional 19 geographic and theatre awards at Cisco’s partner

conference.

It is also a long term partner of Genesys, Microsoft and Avaya as well as EMC and

VMware, and numerous others. The company is in a multi-year global alliance partnership

with Microsoft with joint investment to accelerate growth for both companies. The



company is also certified as a Microsoft Gold partner in 21 countries and holds more than

4000 Microsoft certifications. Dimension Data continues to add brand name partners as

well. In May, 2015 Deloitte announced it had chosen Dimension Data as their platform to

load SAP’s applications.

Criterion 5: Human Capital

Dimension Data has strong focus on quality in service delivery to its customers, and as a

systems integrator and partner delivers this service through people that are dedicated to

specific accounts. As an example, 232 Dimension Data employees are dedicated to the

Airbus account, ensuring processes flow smoothly.

Dimension Data also has clearly built its brand on more than just technology, but also

people and the greater good of the environment and society. It is a certified top employer

in 25 countries globally, and in March, 2015, it was recognized as one of only five Global

Top Employers in the world for outstanding employee offerings, based on an annual

independent research project carried out by the Top Employers Institute. Its internal

2014 employee survey has employee satisfaction rising to a four out of five ranking as

well.

Criterion 6: Growth Potential

With the skill set, people, processes, and solutions Dimension has to offer, the company

possesses vast potential for growth, which has been fueled by key acquisitions over the

past few years. For example, the acquisition of NextiraOne helped it grow in markets such

as the Czech Republic, Poland, and other areas of Eastern Europe, and increased its

presence in Europe by 79%. That move also gave it a strong entrée into growth with mid-

market clients while broadening product offerings.

Overall, the technology and expertise that Dimension provides has enabled it to

consistently take market share from competitors in all segments of its business. The

biggest deterrent to growth has been finding the right people to grow, in areas such as

security and cloud. However, this is an issue that is shared equally across the globe with

competitors, and Dimension Data’s aptitude for attracting talent, and creating solutions

that help automate a portion of the work required, will continue to help the company grow

in all regions of the world, despite this challenge.

Conclusion

The technology, breadth of product offerings across all segments, and tenured systems

integration expertise has garnered Dimension Data a global leadership position in the

market. In addition, its commitment to sustainability and contributing to the betterment

of society has contributed to the strong overall performance that has allowed Dimension

Data to earn Frost & Sullivan’s 2015 Customer Value Leadership (CVL) Award for Global

Contact Center Solutions Integration.



Significance of Customer Value Leadership Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from your

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

therefore the cornerstone of any successful growth strategy. To achieve these dual goals

(growth and customer delight), an organization must be best-in-class in three key areas:

understanding demand, nurturing the brand, differentiating from the competition. This

three-fold approach to delivering customer value is explored further below.

Understanding Customer Value Leadership Customer Value Leadership is defined and measured by two macro-level categories:

customer impact and business impact. These two sides work together to make customers

feel valued, and confident in their products’ quality and long shelf life. This dual

satisfaction translates into repeat purchases and a high lifetime customer value.



Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Customer Value Leadership Award, we evaluated two key factors—Customer

Impact and Business Impact—according to the criteria identified below.

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value


Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience


Business Impact

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Criterion 3: Operational Efficiency



Best Practice Award Analysis for Salesforce

Decision Support Scorecard

To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance

categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to

the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that

basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance

evaluation; ratings guidelines are illustrated below.

RATINGS GUIDELINES

The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Customer Impact and Business Impact

(i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for each

criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team confirms the veracity of

this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which confirms that small changes to

the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative

rankings of the companies.



The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the

interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players in

as Company 2 and Company 3.

DECISION SUPPORT SCORECARD FOR CUSTOMER VALUE LEADERSHIP AWARD (ILLUSTRATIVE)

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)

Customer Value Leadership Customer Impact

Business Impact

Average Rating

Dimension Data 9.0 9.0 9.0

Competitor 2 7.0 9.0 8

Competitor 3 8.0 6.0 7

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value

Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar

offerings in the market


Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that

addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints

Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company’s product or service, and have a

positive experience throughout the life of the product or service

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality


Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty

Business Impact

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Requirement: Strong overall financial performance in terms of revenues, revenue growth,

operating margin and other key financial metrics

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Requirement: Customer facing processes support the efficient and consistent acquisition of

new customers, even as it enhances retention of current customers

Criterion 3: Operational Efficiency

Requirement: Staff is able to perform assigned tasks productively, quickly, and to a high

quality standard




Requirements: Customer focus strengthens brand, reinforces customer loyalty and

enhances growth potential


Requirement: Company culture is characterized by a strong commitment to quality and

customers, which in turn enhances employee morale and retention

Decision Support Matrix

Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard,

analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to

visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at

best-in-class levels.

DECISION SUPPORT MATRIX FOR CUSTOMER VALUE LEADERSHIP AWARD (ILLUSTRATIVE)

High

Low

Low High

Business Impact

Customer Impact

Award Recipient

Competitor 2

Competitor 3



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 players and for identifying those performing at best-

in-class levels.

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN THE CHAOS

Technology

Obsolescence

Disruptive

Technologies

New

Applications

CEO

Demographics

Needs

and

PerceptionsSegmentation

Buying

Behavior

Branding

and

Positioning

Competitive

Benchmarking

Emerging

Competition

Competitive

Strategy

Capital

Investments

Availability

of

Capital

Country

Risk

Economic

Trends

Crowd

Sourcing

Growth

Strategies

Career

Development

Growth

Implementation

Industry

Evolution

New Vertical

Markets

Industry

Expansion

Industry

Convergence

Emerging

Technologies

Smart Cities

Sustainability

New Business

Cultures

GeoPolitical

Stability



Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices Our awards team follows 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 process 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 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 winner

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



STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

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

Once licensed. 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

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