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(http://www.gartner.com/home)LICENSED FORDISTRIBUTIONMagic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service, North AmericaPublished: 24 October 2016 ID: G00293404Analyst(s): Drew Kraus, Steve Blood, Daniel O'ConnellSummaryThe contact center as a service market in North America is growing rapidly. It provides infrastructure and operations leadersresponsible for contact centers with a range of viable alternatives to traditional on-premises solutions across various deploymentsizes and levels of complexity.Market Definition/DescriptionContact center as a service (CCaaS) solutions offer functions and capabilities that are similar to those required to operate call andcontact centers as on-premises contact center infrastructure (CCI), except that they are delivered as a service and paid for on amonthly subscription model.These types of services are used by customer and employee service and support centers, by inbound and outbound telemarketingservices, by help desk services, by government-operated support centers, and by other types of structured communication operations.The functions that organizations consider when reviewing their contact center requirements include, but are not limited to:Automatic call distribution (ACD) and computer-telephony integrationInteractive voice response (IVR) and voice portalUniversal queuing of internet channels, such as email, web chat, Short Message Service (SMS), social media and videoThe ability to support virtual operations, remote agents and subject matter experts that reside outside the traditional contact centeroperationProactive contact, including outbound dialing, SMS and email notificationsCustomer relationship tracking, management applications and operational support applications, including reporting, analytics, selfservice portals and workforce optimization (WFO)

Some of these capabilities are provided by CCaaS providers as a development of their own software, while other capabilities areprovided in partnership with specialist providers (see "Magic Quadrant for Customer Engagement Center Workforce Optimization" ).The desire to manage multiple communications channels as a holistic, omnichannel customer experience requires a strong focus onunderstanding the complexity of the interactions (see "How to Successfully Navigate CRM and CCI Procurement on the Route toOmnichannel Success" ).There are generally two types of architecture deployed in the CCaaS market:The first is multitenant, in which all users share a common (single) software instance.The second is multi-instance, in which each user receives its own virtualized software instance on shared hardware.Both the multitenant and multi-instance architectures possess cloud characteristics of shared infrastructure (for example,provisioning tools, portals, data centers, racks, common equipment and blades); per-user, per-month, per-transaction and/or perminute pricing; and the elasticity to dynamically add and subtract users. While services based on multi-instance technology cangenerally support greater levels of customization, they tend to do so at higher costs for both software licenses and professionalservices for configuration and integration, may not include georedundancy and/or hot-standby redundancy (typically standard withmultitenant services), and generally require longer timelines for activating services.To be considered for this Magic Quadrant, CCaaS platform suppliers must have the attributes that are aligned with Gartner'sdefinitions for cloud services (see "Market Definitions and Methodology: Public Cloud Services" ). A clearer definition of CCaaS can befound in the Public Cloud Communications Services section of "Use Gartner's Taxonomy for Cloud Communications to Define ServiceRequirements and Evaluate Offers."In our analysis of communications as a service (see "Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide" ), we haveidentified four service categories that we use to identify each provider in the Vendor Strengths and Cautions section below. The fourcategories (or approaches) are as follows (see the Market Overview section for more details):Application specialistCommunications service provider (CSP)System integratorSoftware technology providerMagic QuadrantFigure 1. Magic Quadrant: Contact Center as a Service, North America

Source: Gartner (October 2016)Vendor Strengths and Cautions8x88x8, based in San Jose, California, is an application specialist offering its Virtual Contact Center (VCC) service, which is based on itsown purpose-built multitenant software platform. The company offers multiple versions of VCC packaged in accordance with users'requirements for size and complexity. 8x8 primarily sells VCC into small or midsize contact centers, and occasionally wins deals inlarger accounts. Services are provided out of data centers in the U.S. (three), Canada (two), the U.K. (two), Hong Kong, Australia,Singapore, the Netherlands and Brazil. VCC supports prebuilt integrations to Salesforce, NetSuite, Zendesk and Microsoft Dynamics,and can support custom integrations to many other CRM systems and other third-party systems using its web-services-based APItools. 8x8 began offering CCaaS in North America in 2011.Consider 8x8 for multichannel contact center functionality in small or midsize contact centers. 8x8 solutions are particularly wellsuited to those who want to procure CCaaS and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) from a single provider; however, thesesolutions may also be considered for stand-alone deployments.STRENGTHS8x8 can natively provide both CCaaS and UCaaS functionality, supporting single sign-on, shared presence and directories, extensionto-extension dialing, and instant messaging through its Expert Connect integration.With 8x8 solutions, all reporting data is stored in a data warehouse, supporting strong analytics for operational and customerjourney insight, in addition to standard reporting data.

In 2016, 8x8 added EasyConfig, a rapid integration development tool for integrating with third-party CRM systems, as well as atightly-integrated quality management functionality to VCC through its 2015 acquisition of Quality Software Corporation (QSC).CAUTIONS8x8 has limited experience in supporting large and very large contact center environments.8x8's VCC does not natively support a number of key contact center technologies, including workforce management (providedthrough a third-party partnership) and SMS routing.Predictive dialing functionality is provided on 8x8's EasyContactNow, and is not yet fully integrated into its VCC offering in NorthAmerica.AspectNew to this Magic Quadrant, Aspect is based in Scottsdale, Arizona and is a software technology provider offering its Aspect Hostedmulti-instance service, which is based on its own purpose-built software platform. Aspect also offers its multitenant Zipwire serviceson a platform that is a combination of the company's own technology stack and some technology OEM'd from a third-party provider. Inlate 2016, the company plans to make its Aspect Via CCaaS offering, which is based entirely on the company's own intellectualproperty, generally available. Aspect Hosted services are provided out of data centers in the U.S. (five), the U.K. (two), India, HongKong, Australia and Singapore, while its Zipwire services are supported through Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers globally.Aspect supports prebuilt integrations to Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, while Zipwire supports prebuilt integrations toSalesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, Zendesk and Microsoft Dynamics. Aspect began offering its CCaaS service in 2013.Consider Aspect Hosted services when looking to deploy feature-rich, multi-instance CCaaS capabilities, particularly in large and verylarge contact centers. Consider Aspect Zipwire services when looking for a broad set of CCaaS functionality in a multitenant offering.STRENGTHSLeveraging the company's history in the on-premises CCI market, Aspect has sales and support presence globally.Aspect offers a broad set of CCaaS functionality that is designed to address the needs of contact centers of all sizes.The company's Aspect Hosted offering includes support of Aspect's strong WFO suite.CAUTIONSAcross a number of technology markets, vendors often find the transition from providing primarily on-premises solutions tobecoming a "cloud first" provider creates a variety of financial and organizational challenges that can take years to mitigate. Aspectis still in the early stages of making this transition.Despite good brand awareness for its on-premises CCI solutions, Aspect lacks market awareness in the CCaaS space.

Aspect's reliance on an OEM partner for part of Zipwire's call and contact routing capability means that Aspect does not control thedevelopment path for some key technology areas of its offering.BroadSoft (Transera)BroadSoft, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland acquired Transera of Sunnyvale, California in 2016. The company is an applicationspecialist offering multitenant and multi-instance CCaaS on its own purpose-built software platform. BroadSoft has historicallyfocused on selling UCaaS and CCaaS platforms to service providers that then leverage these platforms to offer services to their owncustomer bases. Contrastively, Transera has historically focused on providing CCaaS services directly to large and very large complexcontact centers; it had, however, begun to execute in the midsize contact center space in recent years. BroadSoft offers its CC-OneExpress, Standard, Premium and Salesforce editions out of data centers in the U.S. (two), the U.K., the Netherlands and Japan. Thecompany supports prebuilt integrations to Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, NetSuite, SugarCRM and Zendesk, and supports RESTfulAPIs for integrating with a variety of third-party systems. Transera began offering CCaaS in North America in 2007.Consider BroadSoft when looking to support contact center deployments of a variety of sizes, including those that are large and verylarge complex deployments.STRENGTHSBroadSoft has a strong ability to analyze and leverage structured and unstructured enterprise data to support business-intelligencedriven contact routing decisions in real time. A simple example is its ability to prioritize calls from those customers who hadpreviously abandoned a call while waiting in a queue.BroadSoft's CCaaS solution can function as a stand-alone platform or can overlay existing CCI, enabling consistent routing,business rule decisioning and reporting across an enterprise's entire contact center operations, including business processoutsourcing (BPO) services.Integration into the much larger BroadSoft corporate family provides the former Transera business with much greater financialresources and a much broader global reach through which to expand its business.CAUTIONSBroadSoft's reputation in CCaaS is that of a provider of low-complexity solutions designed to be easily sold and provisioned by itsservice provider customers. This is a very different profile from Transera's typical customers and this may lead to challenges inmeeting the functionality and ease-of-use requirements of very different target markets.BroadSoft has not been well-known as a CCaaS provider, so must develop the necessary brand awareness for this solution in itsbase and channel partners.

The former Transera's solutions have historically been sold and serviced directly by the company; its former product and supportorganization will be challenged to adapt to BroadSoft's indirect sales and support model.Five9Five9 is based in San Ramon, California and is an application specialist offering its multitenant Virtual Contact Center (VCC) solutionleveraging its own cloud platform. The company has historically focused on the small to midsize contact center market, but is gainingtraction in larger accounts. Five9 offers services out of data centers in the U.S. (three), the U.K. and the Netherlands. VCC supportsprebuilt integrations to Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud, Microsoft, NetSuite, Velocify and Zendesk, and supports an open, RESTbased API to integrate with a variety of other systems. Five9 began offering CCaaS in 2003.Consider Five9 for multichannel CCaaS, particularly in midsize to large environments and those needing inbound, outbound andblended functionality.STRENGTHSFive9 has strong brand recognition in the CCaaS space, particularly for delivering small and midsize solutions, and supports amongthe largest number of agents relative to other providers in this research.Five9's system configuration portal is designed around ease of use, allowing many customers to self-configure their solution(without the need for technical assistance), while the company's Premium Support offering helps it to address the more demandingneeds of larger and more complex contact center deployments.VCC supports a deep integration to Salesforce CRM systems; Five9 has cultivated a strong partnership with Salesforce'sdevelopment and marketing teams and a close working relationship with many Salesforce channel partners.CAUTIONSFive9 has less experience of supporting very large contact center environments than a number of other providers in this research.Although it supports integrations to many market-leading third-party WFO suites, Five9's VCC does not have WFO functionalitynatively integrated into its software stack.Five9 lacks resources and experience in supporting global CCaaS deployments compared with other providers in this research.GenesysGenesys is based in Daly City, California and is a software technology provider offering multitenant and multi-instance CCaaS basedon the same software stack that it sells to its on-premises customers. The company offers multiple versions of its Virtual ContactCenter packaged in accordance with users' requirements for size and complexity. Genesys offers services out of data centers in theU.S. (two), Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and India. The company

provided in par tnership with specialist pr oviders (see "Magic Quadrant for Customer Engagement Center Workforce Optimization" ). The desire to manage multiple communications channels as a holistic, omnichannel cust omer experience r equires a strong focus on understanding the complexity of the inter actions (see "How to Successfully Na vigate CRM and CCI Pr ocurement on the Route t o .