News

News

• June 03, 2019 03 Jun'19

  Pega Customer Service adds digital messaging capabilities

  Pegasystems users can now offer their customers support through text messaging and will be able to develop apps more easily with a new low-code platform.

• June 03, 2019 03 Jun'19

  Adobe debuts Qualtrics plugin, Magento-Amazon D2C features

  Adobe moves forward with an SAP Qualtrics plugin to measure voice of the customer on Experience Platform and strengthens Magento customers' Amazon presence with new features.

• May 30, 2019 30 May'19

  Salesforce blockchain development tool for CRM platform unveiled

  Blockchain has grown beyond its high-profile use case as the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. Salesforce is the latest tech company to bet big on blockchain.

• May 29, 2019 29 May'19

  Contact center-as-a-service platforms here, but face hurdles

  Cloud contact center platforms offer promise, migrating agents into a flexible environment. Contact centers, a long-established on-premises IT world, are slowly starting to adopt them.

• May 23, 2019 23 May'19

  Verint launches VOC software, gathers omnichannel feedback

  Verint has launched Verint Unified VoC, which provides organizations with a full, accurate view of customer desires and preferences, according to the vendor.

• May 22, 2019 22 May'19

  Salesforce outage exposes Pardot marketing automation data

  Salesforce's 15-hour outage may not scare away users. But it might get them to use more encryption, as the outage exposed customer marketing automation data in the GDPR era.

• May 21, 2019 21 May'19

  Pegasystems acquires In The Chat digital messaging platform

  Pegasystems' recent acquisition of the digital messaging platform In The Chat brings Pega customers new communication channels and improves AI chatbot capabilities.

• May 20, 2019 20 May'19

  Sparkcentral virtual agent framework blends AI, live agents

  Bring Your Own Bot, Sparkcentral's virtual agent framework for chatbots, blends live agent and virtual agent assistance to augment the customer experience.

• May 16, 2019 16 May'19

  Leanplum, Amplitude unite for personalized mobile marketing

  Leanplum and Amplitude have united to combine Leanplum's mobile marketing engagement with Amplitude's product intelligence for more personalized mobile marketing.

• May 16, 2019 16 May'19

  New Salesforce FoundationConnect designed for grantmakers

  Salesforce.org has launched FoundationConnect, a CRM platform designed specifically to make managing the philanthropic lifecycle easier for nonprofits.

• May 15, 2019 15 May'19

  Effective customer surveys help contact centers drive CX

  As companies try to figure out who will run customer experience initiatives, contact centers make a strong case for the customer support team, using the right technology.

• May 14, 2019 14 May'19

  CX initiatives driving contact center technology trends

  Making contact center agents more present across all channels is a new focus, as tech vendors rush to give customer service operations more tools to improve customer experiences.

• May 08, 2019 08 May'19

  Act-On launches Adaptive Web, AI-based personalization tool

  Adaptive Web, an AI marketing software tool by Act-On, makes real-time content suggestions to increase user web engagement without the direct aid of a marketer.

• May 08, 2019 08 May'19

  Einstein Analytics for Financial Services enhances banking CX

  Salesforce's new analytics tools for financial services follow AI advancements from IBM Watson and Acquia upgrading customer experiences in retail banking and wealth management.

• May 07, 2019 07 May'19

  Salesforce announces Pardot Business Units, coming this summer

  Pardot Business Units, an automated marketing platform, provides large companies with a way to coordinate and personalize marketing efforts across the business.

• May 07, 2019 07 May'19

  Oracle's CX strategy points toward real-time responses

  As data increasingly becomes key to an effective CX implementation, Oracle's CX strategy points to what technology it's focusing on to win over corporate customers.

• May 06, 2019 06 May'19

  ICMI co-founder on contact center technology trends

  Contact center technology stacks now include pervasive AI and CX-oriented tools, enabling agents to do a better job more efficiently, said ICMI co-founder Brad Cleveland.

• May 03, 2019 03 May'19

  Google launches CallJoy small-business phone service

  Google has launched CallJoy, a new cloud-based phone service that provides small businesses with automated phone agents for customer service for $39 per month.

• May 03, 2019 03 May'19

  IBM marketing automation sell-off represents market shift

  IBM divests itself of marketing automation tools, but they will likely live on as the new parent company combines them with other acquisitions to incubate a new integrated CX stack.

• May 02, 2019 02 May'19

  Impartner PRM integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for sales

  Impartner's collaboration with Microsoft delivers Impartner PRM for Microsoft Dynamics 365, a PRM sales software that gives users immediate access to direct and indirect sales data.

• May 01, 2019 01 May'19

  Infor launches new CRM mobile app for CloudSuite

  Meeting mobile needs is key for Infor, which just released its Infor CloudSuite CRM Mobile application for iOS users. The app will provide access to important information on the go.

• April 30, 2019 30 Apr'19

  Online scheduling platforms open new channel for customers

  New customer-centric tools book demos in Salesforce at a customer's bidding, automating processes that took multiple email messages and forms -- sometimes losing leads in the process.

• April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19

  Upgraded Salesforce Sales Cloud features boost productivity

  With AI enhancements, the new cohort of Sales Cloud features will minimize busywork and increase productivity of sales reps, according to Salesforce.

• April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19

  Salesforce buys Salesforce.org: What that means for customers

  Salesforce.com bought Salesforce.org. Nonprofit Cloud customers mull changes they hope to see now that all Salesforce products are under one umbrella.

• April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19

  CDP Institute releases customer data platform certification

  While waiting for Salesforce to release a customer data platform and for Adobe to perfect its newly released CDP, RealCDP certification aspires to validate CDPs available today.

• April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19

  CDP vs. DMP: Vendors battle for marketers' budgets

  Customer data platforms and data management platforms have overlapping features, as vendors vie for marketers' IT budgets. It may not matter, as Adobe and Salesforce join Oracle in the game.

• April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19

  Salesforce adds OCR, translation, AI app builder to Einstein platform

  Salesforce enables no-code AI app development, as well as optical character recognition, translation and services to extend Einstein predictive modeling tools into external apps.

• April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19

  Infor launches Infor CloudSuite for customer management

  Infor has released the Infor CloudSuite CRM cloud-based application, a program for companies to track customer lifecycles, sales and marketing analytics.

• April 15, 2019 15 Apr'19

  AI sales forecasting tools soothe sales-marketing rivalries

  Sales forecasting vendors such as Clari extend reach into enterprise marketing, leveling the data and, with AI, solving an old problem: conflicting numbers on quarterly forecasts.

• April 11, 2019 11 Apr'19

  Google Cloud for Retail debuts, Contact Center AI makes inroads

  Google takes on cloud competitors by making an AI-rich home for online and bricks retailers with new suite. Also: Google Call Center AI extends to Genesys, Avaya, Salesforce, more.

• April 10, 2019 10 Apr'19

  Reimagined customer experience mobile apps driving new sales

  Mobile and lightweight web apps aren't new. But digital teams driving demand generation is new, thanks to marketing automation platforms that can personalize the pitch.

• April 08, 2019 08 Apr'19

  Microsoft releases Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator update

  A newly released second version of Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator doubles the size of the CDM and allows better management of all user data for nonprofits.

• April 05, 2019 05 Apr'19

  Salesforce Classic nearing end of life, but not dead yet

  Salesforce's Lightning UI debuted three years ago, and the vendor stopped adding features to its predecessor, Classic. Customers cling to Classic, despite a big push for Lightning.

• April 05, 2019 05 Apr'19

  LogMeIn Bold360 updates improve chatbot customer experience

  LogMeIn Bold360 features new tools that will improve customer experience by streamlining communication, allowing agents to solve problems quickly, and managing bot involvement.

• March 29, 2019 29 Mar'19

  Adobe-Microsoft-SAP Open Data Initiative gains momentum

  It wasn't a marketing scam announced last year: An alliance takes clearer shape, as Adobe, Microsoft and SAP cooperate on a common data model for ERP, CRM and marketing automation.

• March 29, 2019 29 Mar'19

  New Oracle Eloqua features, integrations collect actionable CX data

  New integrations and updates for Eloqua, Oracle's B2B marketing tool, emphasize the importance of actionable data in delivering a positive customer experience.

• March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19

  6 must-know customer experience technology trends

  Our customer experience technology trends survey of 250 North American tech buyers and influencers reveals that the CRM to CX migration is well underway.

• March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19

  Relax, Adobe Marketo still plans to support Salesforce customers

  Marketo VP Matt Zilli discusses what's next for the marketing automation platform, especially in regard to what devoted Marketo customers who use Salesforce CRM can expect.

• March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19

  Adobe Experience Platform unites Magento, Marketo, customer data

  Adobe makes a play for customer experience leadership by adding Magento- and Marketo-based clouds and building it on the Adobe Experience Platform foundation to unify the data.

• March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19

  AWS DCX Competency vets cloud customer experience partners

  The AWS Digital Customer Experience Competency for content management, e-commerce, service and marketing automation certifies partners for infrastructure and security to create cloud CX.

• March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19

  Adobe Experience Platform likely to get boost, Adoption Scoring debuts

  Adobe Experience Platform (formerly Adobe Cloud Platform) focus of Summit, as analytics, AI and open-data initiatives with Microsoft and SAP converge.

• March 15, 2019 15 Mar'19

  Microsoft Government Community Cloud adds Teams, Dynamics 365

  U.S. government agencies are undergoing a digital transformation, and Microsoft hopes that upgrades to its Government Cloud lineup will make its platform part of that change.

• March 12, 2019 12 Mar'19

  Salesforce strategy focuses on integration, customer data

  Salesforce's strategy for 2019 and beyond includes better data integration and more plans for MuleSoft, Customer 360 and Salesforce Essentials.

• March 06, 2019 06 Mar'19

  SurveyMonkey acquisition of Usabilla adds website feedback

  SurveyMonkey, by adding website and app feedback capabilities from Usabilla to its survey software platform, now has a more robust offering for enterprise customers.

• March 01, 2019 01 Mar'19

  Microsoft mixed reality software comes to smartphones

  Microsoft is adding mixed reality capabilities for sales departments and for customer service, extending the features beyond their HoloLens headset and onto smartphones.

• February 20, 2019 20 Feb'19

  How Salesforce Einstein machine learning makes AI practical

  As it evolves, Salesforce's Einstein AI serves the needs of a growing number of organizations and takes the guesswork out of why certain decisions are made.

• February 11, 2019 11 Feb'19

  Verint acquisition of ForeSee gives VOC software an upgrade

  By combining Verint and ForeSee, users can capture customer interactions through SMS and customer surveys, as well as through online traffic and digital channels.

• January 28, 2019 28 Jan'19

  Adobe Magento Commerce Cloud adds progressive web apps

  Adobe is upgrading its e-commerce product by adding AI-fueled image-search capabilities and progressive web application building tools to Magento Commerce Cloud.

• January 18, 2019 18 Jan'19

  AI-fueled Verizon Digital CX targets virtual contact centers

  Telecom giant Verizon is boosting its software business with an AI-based CX system for contact centers, with tools for virtual and live agents, authoring and social engagement.

• January 15, 2019 15 Jan'19

  CX strategy a vital part of modernizing a business

  Consumers are providing retailers with more data than ever before, with expectations that they will receive a personalized experience. But that can be challenging for retailers.

• January 14, 2019 14 Jan'19

  Salesforce e-commerce upgrades put focus on mobile

  Salesforce Commerce Cloud mobile-centric, consumer-focused upgrade unveiled at NRF 2019 conference, including Einstein Visual Search and Einstein Recommendations.

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  Salesforce High Velocity Sales boosts inside sales

  High Velocity Sales includes Salesforce tools, such as Einstein Lead Scoring, Lightning Email, Sales Cadences and Work Queues, with more features expected in later 2019 releases.

• January 07, 2019 07 Jan'19

  HubSpot Ventures to strategically fund friendly startups

  HubSpot remembers the financial backing it received as a new company and creates its own $30 million venture fund to invest in startups that align with the HubSpot mission.

• January 04, 2019 04 Jan'19

  Salesforce Lightning Web Components adds JavaScript model

  By moving toward a standard-based JavaScript model, Salesforce is appealing to millions of JavaScript developers by making it easier to build custom apps on Salesforce Lightning.

• December 24, 2018 24 Dec'18

  2018 in review: CRM morphs into CX software

  Acquisitions and new products marked a busy 2018, with vendors like Salesforce, Adobe and SAP making splashy acquisitions while refocusing on customer experience.

• December 20, 2018 20 Dec'18

  Salesforce CX, AI, integration tools are 2019 trends to watch

  As the world pivots from CRM to customer experience management, Salesforce makes its own moves with research showing millennials value CX over the actual goods or services received.

• December 17, 2018 17 Dec'18

  Salesforce acquisitions a big part of CRM vendor's busy 2018

  Again, 2018 showed how important acquisitions are to Salesforce's growth and expansion into markets such as AI, e-commerce, integration and collaboration.

• November 29, 2018 29 Nov'18

  Managers learn AI basics with Salesforce Einstein Discovery

  With many successes and failures, companies create their own AI apps with the use of Einstein Discovery. Users discuss their experiences along the way.

• November 19, 2018 19 Nov'18

  Zendesk CRM moves beyond customer service into CX

  Zendesk moves on from focusing solely on customer service by adding analytics, sales force automation and CRM capabilities, while also providing third-party integrations on AWS.

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  Zoho CRM Plus gets AI boost, aims to connect departments

  Zoho's new CRM release may help bring departments together, but it's unclear if the flood of AI tools and more data sharing will differentiate the vendor in the robust CRM market.

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  SAP CX move with Qualtrics challenges Salesforce, Oracle

  By acquiring Qualtrics, SAP is expanding beyond ERP and entering the CX space, challenging market leaders Salesforce, Oracle and Adobe. It also is expanding its HR tech suite.

• November 09, 2018 09 Nov'18

  Cloud e-commerce IT battle pits content management vs. CRM

  ERP-based and stand-alone e-commerce systems dominate the market. As more companies go to the cloud, CRM and CMS vie to be the next foundation of e-commerce.

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  Adobe Magento Commerce Cloud brings e-commerce muscle

  After acquiring Magento for $1.7 billion earlier this year, Adobe has integrated its commerce product into Adobe Experience Cloud for both enterprises and SMBs.

• October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18

  Oracle CX Unity unveiled at OpenWorld

  In an attempt to compete with Salesforce, Oracle unveils Subscription Management, a software tool to help users manage the growing number of consumer-facing subscription products.

• October 22, 2018 22 Oct'18

  FinancialForce adds Einstein Analytics to back office

  FinancialForce added an analytics layer to its Professional Services Automation product to help its users find better insights in their back-office applications.

• October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18

  Pipeline podcast ranges over Dreamforce news

  Einstein Voice, Customer 360, Salesforce partners and all things Dreamforce. The Pipeline podcast takes on these developments and takes an inside look at Salesforce Tower, too.

• October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18

  Google Analytics for Salesforce helps users scour web data

  Salesforce will sell Google Marketing Platform products on its own site in North America, strengthening the partnership between the two software giants.

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  Salesforce Einstein Voice, Customer 360 data sharing on deck

  Salesforce users to benefit from new and extended partnerships with Apple, AWS and IBM, the upcoming Customer 360 integration tool and Einstein Voice.

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  Salesforce Health Cloud roadmap boasts payer tools, CX, AI

  Salesforce users in healthcare get tools that bring membership and benefits data and insurance utilization and claims data analysis tools into Health Cloud.

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  Clicks-and-bricks one-up online companies with behavioral data

  Physical stores and banks are closing, losing ground to more agile online competitors. Technology and data can help them fight back.

• September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18

  Salesforce AI users reveal pros and cons

  Salesforce Einstein users shared their experiences with the AI tools, including the challenges of getting the C-suite to buy in.

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  Open data, customer experience AI the focus for retail automation

  AI is infusing the customer experience not only online, but in stores. At Ignite, SAP, Adobe and Microsoft joined forces for the common goal of sharing data to push AI even further.

• September 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  New HubSpot products strategy, CMS updates from Inbound

  At Inbound 2018, HubSpot unveiled a new enterprise product line. It also introduced the flywheel, a circular metaphor for the customer relationship with sales, marketing and service.

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI going hard after Salesforce

  Microsoft hammers Salesforce by launching low-code, AI-based virtual agents for customer service. Also: New tools for sales and marketing add automated insights to Dynamics 365.

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  Dreamforce brings Salesforce products upgrades

  More than 150,000 attendees are expected at Dreamforce in San Francisco, where Salesforce will show how recent acquisitions fit into its product platform.

• September 14, 2018 14 Sep'18

  Adobe acquisition of Marketo could shake up industry

  Adobe looking to acquire Marketo could also be a ploy to incite a bidding war for Marketo from its holding company, Vista Equity, according to an analyst.

• September 07, 2018 07 Sep'18

  HubSpot products expand reach into enterprise

  HubSpot's VP of products details the newest HubSpot enterprise-level offerings, as well as HubSpot's new video tool. Also: A glimpse of what's on the future roadmap.

• September 06, 2018 06 Sep'18

  HubSpot enterprise edition unveiled

  In addition to releasing enterprise-level systems, HubSpot unveiled a CMS tool for companies to build and customize websites, and a video tool to help create content.

• August 29, 2018 29 Aug'18

  Add web content personalization to your marketing strategy

  Josh Mueller, global head of marketing at Dun & Bradstreet, talks about how quality data drives innovative marketing solutions such as web content personalization and AI chatbots.

• August 21, 2018 21 Aug'18

  HubSpot Conversations adds chatbots, collaborative inbox

  HubSpot sales, marketing and service hubs get new features with Conversations, previewed last year and going live this month.

• August 15, 2018 15 Aug'18

  LinkedIn Sales Navigator refresh adds deals pipeline

  LinkedIn overhauls Sales Navigator with deals management, Adobe Sign and Office 365 integrations, new search tools and mobile deal pages and direct connection to product team.

• August 13, 2018 13 Aug'18

  Revenue ops main theme at Ramp by InsightSquared conference

  Beyond recapping the Ramp by InsightSquared conference and some of the keynote speakers, the Pipeline podcast looks back at other favorite guest speakers at conferences.

• August 10, 2018 10 Aug'18

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 updates add AI features to CRM

  Microsoft has introduced new updates to its Dynamics 365 CRM platform, including AI-driven business intelligence tools for sales, marketing and service.

• August 07, 2018 07 Aug'18

  InsightSquared unveils marketing analytics tools

  At Ramp 2018, marketing technology vendor InsightSquared unveiled new software modules for gauging the effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts.

• August 03, 2018 03 Aug'18

  Google Contact Center AI makes early inroads in industry

  Prospective users are already interested in Google's recently unveiled Contact Center AI system, and Google partners are avidly trying to sell it. But some in industry urge caution

• July 26, 2018 26 Jul'18

  OpenText-Salesforce integration gaining momentum

  An Australian life insurance company, given an opportunity to start anew with IT, chooses Salesforce as interface to deep OpenText content repository.

• July 20, 2018 20 Jul'18

  Salesforce Datorama acquisition to bolster Marketing Cloud

  Salesforce continues piecing together its Marketing Cloud -- this time with the $800 million acquisition of Datorama, an AI marketing software company.

• July 18, 2018 18 Jul'18

  Salesforce's Marc Benioff calls for a national privacy law

  After Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's call for a national data privacy law, Salesforce's chief privacy officer responds to questions about the Salesforce privacy stance.

• June 27, 2018 27 Jun'18

  AppExchange in Salesforce a slam-dunk for Detroit Pistons' workflow

  The Detroit Pistons needed help getting the most out of Salesforce, so they turned to AppExchange -- although the abundance of choices is sometimes a challenge.

• June 26, 2018 26 Jun'18

  SAP C/4HANA, Pega Infinity ramp up the CRM market

  The Pipeline podcast duo discusses the CRM market after the unveiling of Pega Infinity and SAP C/4HANA, as well as technology news from Uber about detecting drunk passengers.

• June 21, 2018 21 Jun'18

  Banking blockchain part of Pega Infinity platform reboot

  This Pipeline podcast features a not-so-serious Q&A with Pegasystems CMO Tom Libretto covering Journey albums, blockchain hype and what happens at a user conference.

• June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18

  Adobe-Microsoft partnership adds key integrations

  Adobe brings its Document Cloud to Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics 365, making it easier for licensees of both to quickly convert files into PDFs and into Acrobat.

• June 19, 2018 19 Jun'18

  Data migration software coming for SAP CRM

  At Sapphire Now, SAP unveiled C/4HANA, a suite of applications that brings together ERP and CRM. To make it easier to switch, migration tools can be added to the suite.

• June 13, 2018 13 Jun'18

  Salesforce Interaction Studio unveiled at Connections 2018

  At Salesforce Connections, Salesforce builds off its Google partnership announced at Dreamforce by releasing new integrations between Marketing Cloud and Google Analytics 360.

• June 07, 2018 07 Jun'18

  SAP e-commerce extends to Azure, other new features added

  Artificial Christmas tree manufacturer Balsam Brands uses Hybris to expand internationally, allowing for dynamic pricing and product catalogs, depending on the country.

• June 04, 2018 04 Jun'18

  Pega Infinity upgrades include marketing AI tools, blockchain support

  Pega Infinity adds new digital transformation tools for low-code app development, bot libraries and AI that can optimize apps and assist with marketing campaigns.

• June 01, 2018 01 Jun'18

  Call center artificial intelligence trends drive chat, decision-making

  ICMI's Brad Cleveland has seen call centers integrate email, chat, IVR -- automated FAQ answering -- and social media. None reduced call volume. Chatbot tech may bring similar results.

• May 29, 2018 29 May'18

  Call center chatbots draw skepticism from leaders

  Call centers must live up to demanding quality and performance standards. Until artificial intelligence chatbots can meet those expectations, they don't stand a chance.

• May 23, 2018 23 May'18

  Adobe acquisition of Magento puts Salesforce in its sights

  Adobe looks to challenge Salesforce by adding e-commerce capabilities into its CX suite of products, just months after Salesforce doubled down on e-commerce with CloudCraze purchase.

• May 18, 2018 18 May'18

  Customer behavior analytics brings marketing, analytics together

  If you want better, more timely access to customers, consider customer behavior analytics, which is driven by the combination of marketing and data analytics.