Comprehensive software reviews to make better IT decisions

Automation is not a silver bullet solution to your workforce productivity challenges. Optimization and automation (optimation) must be used together to remove root cause inefficiencies and best use the features and capabilities of your automation solutions.

The growth of AI and workflow automation is crucial to the success of any digital transformation strategy. Learn how DRYiCE's iAutomate can help provide "zero-touch" automation.

Traditional accounting practices are tailor made for waterfall project management. Organizations that have transitioned to the use of standing product teams using Agile and DevOps need to transform their accounting practices as well or they will leave valuable capital expenditure dollars on the table.

RTView offers a middleware monitoring solution. This solution brings much-needed observability to complex technology stacks.

Robotic process automation (RPA) became a forefront initiative for many organizations looking to streamline and automate business operations. FPT akaBot emerged as a notable solution consideration among the traditional big players in the RPA space.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

Finastra launches securities financing transaction regulation (SFTR) support ahead of the European Union’s April 11, 2020 deadline.

Three global banks launched a blockchain-based platform to bring the promise of open ledgers and contracts to the loan management market.

Wolters Kluwer suffers security breach after poor security management.

Consumers using mobile devices for bill payment is creating new challenges for merchants and their banks.

POS system purchases are being driven by ease of integration. Identified as having the most satisfying of all POS systems when it comes to integration, Restaurant Manager displays that it understands the needs of restaurant operators.

As pick-up/takeout has been the only operating option for restaurants for the last few months, Silverware’s release of its “In-Seat Contactless Platform” will assist COVID-19 “new normal” restaurants to deploy mobile-first, phone-to-table contactless features that were once a convenience but are now features of necessity.

As COVID-19 swept across the globe, many food and beverage operators were forced to switch to pick-up or delivery methods only. PAR’s novel solution PARk it supplies operators with a mobile method to continue serving their customers during this time.

As restaurant, hotel, and casino operators begin to open their doors once again to guests, concerns around accepting cashless, contactless payments will rise. In the new normal, POS platform provider Agilysys’ InfoGenesis delivers on EMV and PCI compliance to enable secure and hygienic credit or debit payments.

Salesforce.com has laid its chips on the table with a plan to grow annual revenues from the current run rate of $10 billion a year to a whopping $60 billion a year by 2034. This note explores how Salesforce plans to achieve this ambitious goal and what it means for current and prospective Salesforce.com customers.

Enterprise Connect is North America’s premier conference for advances in communications, collaboration, and customer experience technologies. In this note, Thomas Randall provides his trends and keynote highlights for Enterprise Connect 2021, held September 27 to 29.

On October 8, 2021, BlueJeans by Verizon announced their “Next-Generation BlueJeans” suite and partnership with Google Glass. The Next-Generation suite ties BlueJeans Meetings to two new products: BlueJeans Spaces and BlueJeans Collab Board.

Vijay Sundaram, Chief Strategy Officer at Zoho, describes a major release of new apps and services focused on enabling hybrid work.

At its fifth annual Zoomtopia conference, Zoom announced a wide range of innovations and upcoming products, including feature improvements for Zoom’s core videoconferencing platform; expansions for Zoom Phone and Zoom Events; and the introduction of Zoom’s Video Engagement Center.

Five9’s CX Summit for 2021 hosted events and interactive sessions that explored best practices for using Five9 as well as an outline of Five9’s roadmap for the coming year. Of special focus was Five9’s projected investments in voice technologies for the contact center.

John Aniano, Senior Vice President of Product in CRM applications at Zendesk, sat down with Info-Tech to discuss the current state of the contact center as a service (CCaaS) market space and Zendesk’s position in that space.

Traditional accounting practices are tailor made for waterfall project management. Organizations that have transitioned to the use of standing product teams using Agile and DevOps need to transform their accounting practices as well or they will leave valuable capital expenditure dollars on the table.

So you’ve gone Agile. You do daily scrums, retrospectives, and all the “right” Agile ceremonies. But still your organization isn’t quite convinced. It is now critical to balance the drivers and goals of both Agile and traditional thinking in order to achieve organizational success.

When trying to implement Agile as a defined process, Scrum turned BAs or other roles into order takers with the title “product owner.” This undermines the entire value proposition of product management.

No matter how good your product roadmap and backlog are, they are only as good as your audience’s ability to understand your vision and priority.

The scrum master is like the conductor of an orchestra, ensuring that every piece fits together at the right time to create something greater than the sum of the parts. You don’t have to know how to play each instrument, but you do have to understand what each part contributes to the overall masterpiece.

Tools are important to product teams, but only when they support solid people and processes.

Vijay Sundaram, Chief Strategy Officer at Zoho, describes a major release of new apps and services focused on enabling hybrid work.

This note outlines Info-Tech’s Three C’s of Enterprise Collaboration framework to help buyers effectively navigate the collaboration software marketspace.

A keystone application for powering next-generation web experiences is the digital experience platform (or DXP).

Zoho Workplace – a global enterprise collaboration platform – has reported that it is now supporting 15 million users and is experiencing a surge in usage for its business applications. However, compared to Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google’s G Suite, Zoho still has a long way to go in this marketspace.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

With lots of functionality being provisioned/deployed at the tenant level, Microsoft is happy to sit back for now, watch, and start auditing in the future.

Business Intelligence is about enabling new insights, validating assumptions, and seeing things that could have gone unnoticed in the daily routine. Read about the top BI software trends for 2021.

Transparency, explainability, and trust are pressing topics in AI/ML today. While much has been written about why these are important and what organizations should do, no tools to help implement these principles have existed – until now.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

Thinking about choosing a new software vendor but don't know where to start? Narrow down your shortlist by focusing on software that has received an Info-Tech Research Group award. New data from SoftwareReviews shows that organizations reported higher satisfaction when they switched to software that had received an Info-Tech award.

Data intelligence software vendor Alation has made the move to emphasize data governance amongst its solution offerings to make the data catalog a dynamic platform for “a broad range of data intelligence solutions.”

IT software company HelpSystems has acquired leading data classification software vendors Titus and Boldon James to enhance data security capabilities within its current suite of IT systems.

Student retention, already a major concern at higher education institutions, is an even greater concern as students are unable to learn in person and on campus.

Some major LMS conference cancellations or online alternatives have been announced in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19, though not all have canceled.

As the world responds to the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, closed schools in some affected areas are turning to eLearning and web conferencing to maintain continuity in course delivery and/or studying.

Plans to require four online high school credits in Ontario, Canada, have changed: the required credits have been reduced to two and made opt-outable.

Instructure has responded to pushback from both users and investors about their proposed sale to a private equity firm.

This is the third maintenance release since Sakai 19 was released in spring 2019. Thanks to its open-source community, Sakai is continuously providing fixes, security updates, and improvements to its users.

Thinking about choosing a new software vendor but don't know where to start? Narrow down your shortlist by focusing on software that has received an Info-Tech Research Group award. New data from SoftwareReviews shows that organizations reported higher satisfaction when they switched to software that had received an Info-Tech award.

The impact of COVID-19, as it became a global pandemic in Q1 of 2020, has affected user sentiment toward software during a growing period of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. To analyze the impact, SoftwareReviews compared Satisfaction (willingness to recommend to a peer), ability to deliver Business Value (fair cost to value), and Likeliness to Renew prior to March 10 and post March 10.

An enterprise application selection or implementation has most likely been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Do not hit the brakes; stopping and restarting projects increases the risk of failure. Slow down or speed up? Which is the right strategy for your organization?

The math did not add up for SAP to sunset license support for legacy ECC/Business Suite 7 clients, as we predicted. I’ve fielded numerous calls asking, “Will SAP hold firm on its 2025 end-of-support date?" We finally have SAP’s answer: a resounding “NO.”

SAP customers seeking to move to S/4HANA must navigate four distinct license models, each tied to a separate deployment model (perpetual license, subscription via HEC, S/4HANA Cloud Single-Tenant, or S/4HANA Public Cloud). This note explores the license characteristics and commercial options available when choosing to procure perpetual licenses for S/4HANA.

SAP’s native-cloud play through S/4HANA dangled the hopes of a simplified license structure to SAP customers. Instead, SAP customers now must navigate four distinct license models, each tied to a separate deployment model.

Evaluating vendor proposals is one of the most critical aspects of the RFP process, secondary only to negotiations. The ironic thing is that we've seen too many clients try to abbreviate this activity, take short cuts, or even avoid it altogether. Providing ample time for your team to review the vendor RFP responses is critical to a quality review process, while not rushing the evaluation process ensures that you understand their complete offer and proposal.

When leasing IT equipment, the lessor (the company providing the equipment) has one main obligation. However, most leases overlook this critical aspect completely, exposing the lessee (the organization leasing the equipment) to unnecessary risk.

If you want to lease IT equipment, you have many options with regard to potential lessors (the leasing companies). In fact, some manufacturers lease equipment directly to their customers … or do they?

SortSpoke’s novel approach to machine learning answers a longstanding problem in financial services – how to efficiently extract critical data from inbound, unstructured documents at 100% data quality.

Check your contracts and you will find that the vast majority contain a force majeure clause. This provision states the conditions by which a party does not have to perform under the contract if it experiences an event beyond the party’s control.

If you are experiencing pressure to lower your IT expense, a reverse auction might be a quick, efficient answer to ensure you are getting a competitive price.

IDeaS’ G3 revenue management solution will be highly sought after by properties looking to leverage data to make informed pricing decisions.

Bosch’s release of its INTEOX camera solution moves beyond the legacy “closed circuit” model of surveillance infrastructure to a Camera-as-a-Platform (CaaP) approach, enabling third-party apps at the surveillance perimeter edge to create innovative video-based business solutions and decisions.

Milestone Systems’ recently announced 2019R3 and 2020R1 software releases introduce several new features and capabilities to its XProtect video management software and related Smart Client.

COVID-19 continues to sweep across the globe and significantly impact various segments of the tourism, retail, and restaurant sectors as well as other public venues. As economies begin to reopen and COVID-19-related restrictions begin to be lifted, organizations need a way to monitor and comply with occupancy limits and policies. Genetec’s recently announced Occupancy Management Package enables businesses to tap into their security and surveillance system to count people, visualize data, and manage occupancy density rules.

This note offers guidance to organizations considering elevated body temperature/fever detection solutions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to assist with reopening and return-to-work efforts.

With many video management system (VMS) vendors adding automatic license plate capture capabilities, the uses for this technology are expanding rapidly.

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Indian Health Service (IHS) have formalized an overarching plan to support improved clinical and nonclinical operations across IHS, Tribal, and Urban healthcare facilities through RPMS EHR and HIT modernization.

Cerner and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are working together to expand access to clinical data battling the COVID-19 pandemic by sharing de-identified patient data with health researchers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, healthcare organizations are looking for ways to expand digital patient care options. Patient management systems like Experian’s eCare NEXT help providers connect new digital clinical workflows to established workflows and revenue cycles.

COVID-19 has disrupted critical healthcare projects and implementation plans. Despite the considerable challenges faced by many healthcare organizations MEDITECH has been working with them to shift to virtual EHR implementations.

Grand Lake Health System (GHLS) in St. Mary’s, Ohio, had telehealth on its 2020 application roadmap. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, GLHS chose Allscripts’ telemedicine solution called FollowMyHealth.

Between mid-February and April, athenahealth reported a 3,400% increase in demand for telehealth services. In response to this unprecedented need for patients and providers to connect virtually, athenahealth introduced an improved and integrated telehealth solution.

On June 17, 2021, Smarp briefed Info-Tech on the latest updates to its communications and advocacy platform. Based out of Helsinki, Smarp provides solutions for over 300 companies worldwide, with industry specializations in professional services, banking, and fintech.

Thinking about choosing a new software vendor but don't know where to start? Narrow down your shortlist by focusing on software that has received an Info-Tech Research Group award. New data from SoftwareReviews shows that organizations reported higher satisfaction when they switched to software that had received an Info-Tech award.

The impact of COVID-19, as it became a global pandemic in Q1 of 2020, has affected user sentiment toward software during a growing period of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. To analyze the impact, SoftwareReviews compared Satisfaction (willingness to recommend to a peer), ability to deliver Business Value (fair cost to value), and Likeliness to Renew prior to March 10 and post March 10.

Configuring online learning can take time and resources not all organizations have, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. D2L is assisting with this through a Quick Start Care Package to help organizations rapidly transition to online learning.

Breezy HR has made video assessment and interviewing tools free for business clients for a minimum of 60 days, in light of efforts to prevent COVID-19 pandemic spread.

What is changing in the HR technology space as a result of COVID-19? Some organizations are seeing an uptick in interest and customer support, while others are providing free access to their product.

Backup and recovery operations was once a set-it-and-forget it design architecture with a static reference architecture. Then along came the cloud, disrupting everything about how data is stored and processed. Now, more than ever, organizations are looking for their solution providers to lean in and help them navigate the shifting tides of “cloud backup.”

In this note, I interviewed Himadri Das, head of automation at TietoEVRY. Areas that were covered include important things businesses should consider for implementing AI-based solutions, the maturity level should their practices have, the possible risks of adopting AI, and areas of AIOps that need more improvement.

The Morpheus cloud management platform (CMP) has moved beyond its original focus on DevOps automation and self-service. Morpheus provides a management control plane to enable users to deploy workloads anywhere. Such a control plane is the way of the future for managing complex enterprise technology stacks.

COVID-19 has forced software companies and their suppliers to refocus efforts around prioritizing systems and workflows that are nearly 100% digital in nature. As a result, Info-Tech has observed the quick emergence of six market themes that are highly relevant post COVID-19. This note series will profile key vendors and how they fit into the post-COVID-19 world.

Microsoft recently previewed the specific features to tackle data security and risk management for end users with Microsoft Endpoint Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Double Key Encryption. The reason for the launch? The increasing shift towards a remote work environment and a need to mitigate the accompanying risks.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

These are the trends we predict will be most important is it relates to Enterprise Architecture in 2021.

In the market for software? Learn why it's important to have multiple vendors at the negotiation table.

The Morpheus cloud management platform (CMP) has moved beyond its original focus on DevOps automation and self-service. Morpheus provides a management control plane to enable users to deploy workloads anywhere. Such a control plane is the way of the future for managing complex enterprise technology stacks.

Qualys VMDR and Ivanti have announced a new partnership dedicated to improving the detection and patching of vulnerabilities. Announced July 30, the Qualys and Ivanti Partnership have already gone live as an integrated component of the VMDR solution.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

Thinking about choosing a new software vendor but don't know where to start? Narrow down your shortlist by focusing on software that has received an Info-Tech Research Group award. New data from SoftwareReviews shows that organizations reported higher satisfaction when they switched to software that had received an Info-Tech award.

Information security leaders fully understand the importance of having a security incident and event management (SIEM) solution, but teams need to overcome three main challenges before considering purchasing a SIEM solution.

Chronicle, Alphabet’s enterprise security company, expands its North American partner base with Herjavec Group, its first Canadian partner. Herjavec Group is the first service provider in Canada to be certified in, and provide access to, Chronicle’s security intelligence products.

By exploiting a five-year-old configuration error, a hacker was able to access Amazon’s S3 cloud storage buckets on which Twilio’s code was loaded. As a result, customers were able to unknowingly download the modified code for twenty-four hours.

Qualys VMDR and Ivanti have announced a new partnership dedicated to improving the detection and patching of vulnerabilities. Announced July 30, the Qualys and Ivanti Partnership have already gone live as an integrated component of the VMDR solution.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

Based on data collected from real users, Malwarebytes Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) took the number one spot on SoftwareReviews’ Endpoint Protection Data Quadrant for its second consecutive year.

Starting May 2021, these measurements will inform the search ranking algorithm. Google's objective is to promote websites that are fast, responsive, and visually stable. How can optimize your website for good Core Web Vitals?

How can software marketing and sales teams win in 2021? Learn how emotions affect software buying habits and how to build better customer relationships.

Some virtual event platforms, such as vFairs, can represent a client’s online event as a 3D environment that replicates familiar sights, such as a convention center lobby populated by static or moving people. Users can click on auditoriums, information booths, or exhibitor hall booths to navigate the virtual space of their online conference. Does mimicking the appearance of an in-person conference add value to an online conference?

How can online event organizers recreate the networking and social components that make up an essential part of the in-person conference experience? This is one of the central challenges faced by organizers looking to move their events from onsite to online.

An enterprise applications practice holds the key to an organization’s technology tool chest. As applications practitioners, it is our responsibility to recognize the compelling events that drive a need for technology change.

COVID-19 has left conference conveners with essentially three options: cancel, reschedule, or go online.

5G networks are the next generation of mobile phone service delivered at higher frequencies that requires shorter distance between “backpack” sized cell sites. Municipalities are challenged when negotiating with carriers regarding the installation of these small cell sites due to the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) 5G Order on Small Cell Siting.

Visually presenting data assists the public understanding of complex issues. Using GIS mapping tools is an effective way of layering data from various source for quantitative analysis.

Esri made several big announcements at its Developer Summit in Palm Springs, CA, in March 2019. ArcGIS for Developers is a suite of developer tools and resources specifically for the creation of web-based and native applications.

Esri recently hosted the sixth annual Public Sector CIO Summit. Key topics included the role of emerging technology, emerging trends like location intelligence and smart cities, and the need to create “wins” to demonstrate IT’s value.

The recent Schrems II invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield has added a layer of difficulty for organizations that operate across borders, as they now require additional contractual clauses and measures in place to ensure data can transfer freely. Privacy program management vendor Proteus-Cyber offers a streamlined solution with the release of its Transfer Impact Assessment tool.

By exploiting a five-year-old configuration error, a hacker was able to access Amazon’s S3 cloud storage buckets on which Twilio’s code was loaded. As a result, customers were able to unknowingly download the modified code for twenty-four hours.

Qualys VMDR and Ivanti have announced a new partnership dedicated to improving the detection and patching of vulnerabilities. Announced July 30, the Qualys and Ivanti Partnership have already gone live as an integrated component of the VMDR solution.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

TrustArc is partnering with BigID to add protection of sensitive data to its roster of data privacy and compliance capabilities. The move closely follows a partnership announced by two other major players in the data privacy and governance space, OneTrust and Integris.

RiskSense announced on July 13 its new version of the cloud-delivered RiskSense risk management platform. The main draw of the program is its holistic risk calculation across CVEs and CWEs.

This note outlines Info-Tech’s Three C’s of Enterprise Collaboration framework to help buyers effectively navigate the collaboration software marketspace.

On February 24-25, 2021, Zoho held its annual ZohoDay – a conference aimed at communicating the state of the business and product roadmaps. The event coincided with Zoho’s 25th year as a company, testament to Zoho’s long-term business approach: grow organically, have zero debt, zero external investments, remain cashflow positive, and plow cashflow back into the business and customers.

On September 4, 2020, Info-Tech briefed with Zoho about current and upcoming features of Zoho Workplace, a global enterprise collaboration platform. Organizations, especially SMBs, that want to look outside of Microsoft’s and Google’s office productivity suite duopoly should consider shortlisting Zoho Workplace as a viable option.

IBM is changing the terms of its ubiquitous Passport Advantage agreement to remove entitled discounts on over 5,000 on-premises software products, resulting in an immediate price increase for IBM Software & Support (S&S) across its vast customer landscape.

Google has announced several updates to its G-Suite offering, which aims to heavily integrate and better secure its teamwork applications. The move represents a clear attempt by Google to directly compete with Microsoft’s office productivity suite, with several of the G-Suite updates mirroring the logical architecture of Office 365.

Adoption is one of the biggest challenges that organizations deal with when implementing commercial project management tools. Amid a global pandemic, this challenge has only been exasperated with many working from home.

On October 6, 2021, Front briefed Info-Tech on their latest product functionality and roadmap, alongside their growth in the EMEA region. Front – a unified customer experience platform provider – offers a centralized communications hub that enables the fluid interchange of information for both internal and external communications.

A great relationship with your software provider delivers both value and immediate results. These key tips will help you make the best of your partnership.

Thinking about choosing a new software vendor but don't know where to start? Narrow down your shortlist by focusing on software that has received an Info-Tech Research Group award. New data from SoftwareReviews shows that organizations reported higher satisfaction when they switched to software that had received an Info-Tech award.

The impact of COVID-19, as it became a global pandemic in Q1 of 2020, has affected user sentiment toward software during a growing period of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. To analyze the impact, SoftwareReviews compared Satisfaction (willingness to recommend to a peer), ability to deliver Business Value (fair cost to value), and Likeliness to Renew prior to March 10 and post March 10.

ServiceNow’s Orlando release introduced Now Intelligence, a set of features that strengthen ServiceNow’s lead in the AI-powered IT service management (ITSM) and digital transformation space.

An enterprise application selection or implementation has most likely been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Do not hit the brakes; stopping and restarting projects increases the risk of failure. Slow down or speed up? Which is the right strategy for your organization?

JDA’s Workforce Management and Warehouse Labor Management software functions are now offered in an integrated manner to drive productivity gains in the warehouse.

Many people are challenged by the economic constraints of car ownership. Rising vehicle prices, registration fees, automobile insurance, ongoing maintenance, fuel, and parking fees can bleed people dry. In response, technology companies are developing innovative ways to offset the costs.

A powerful combination of supply chain visibility and global trade management is now available through E2open and its acquisition of Amber Road software.

SAP and Uber Freight are taking on a joint venture to integrate Uber Freight into SAP Logistics Business Network. The goal is to simplify load management and execution by enabling customers to leverage transportation rates from the Uber Freight network of reliable drivers. As a positive “side effect,” better utilization of unused trucks can make a positive impact on environment. For those looking for a convincing reason to go with one supply chain management system or ERP vendor over the other, this might be it.

Multibillion-dollar firms still primarily use spreadsheets for demand forecasting, but this approach leaves a lot of room for enterprise software vendors to displace manual work with solutions better suited for large enterprises, and hence gain significant revenue in this space.