Accanto Systems

Accanto Systems has recently re-branded itself around CEM with a product platform it calls Intelligent Customer Experience Management (iCEM).Its flexible metadata driven architecture collects and correlates inputs from a wide array of sources, including probes, OSS, CRM and others. Accanto believes iCEM can be a key business enabler for areas such as operating centers, customer care, marketing and business development.

Jarkko Multanen, CEO, Accanto Systems, says customer interest in the iCEM is high.  “We are excited by the interest that Accanto is receiving in its iCEM Product Platform. We are confident that we can offer the best in Customer Experience Management and Business Analytics. By helping Service Providers get closer to our customers, we ensure that they can make informed business decisions that enable them to differentiate and compete in a competitive market.”

To learn more about Accanto Systems, read this Vendor Spotlight.

Other solutions

When it comes to CEM, one size does not fit all. There are many, many more tools on the marketplace that can enable CSPs to better understand, manage, and improve the customer experience, and not all of them require major investment. NetScout, for example, enables its customers to glean critical network, device, and application data from its service assurance probes that can then be fed into any CEM suite. In this way, a NetScout customer can leverage incremental value from its existing service assurance investment.

Other companies, such as InfoVista are focusing on network performance and quality of experience (QoE) as the essential component of CEM.  There are also new market entrants as legacy telecom vendors re-tool to serve CEM needs. JDSU, for example, just purchased Trendium as part of its move to offer Customer Experience Assurance. 

Some other companies to check out include ResponseTek, which counts Vodafone and T-Mobile as customers,  Astrellia, and Wipro, which advocates for a switch from CRM to CEM.

How to win with CEM

When researching tools to support your CEM strategy, you should ask many questions such as:

• What is the depth of the company's expertise in telecom?
• How long has the solution been deployed?
• Times are rapidly changing—are there notable recent customer wins that affirm the solution's relevancy?
• Can the solution be delivered from the cloud?
• Does the solution demonstrate clear business benefits and return on investment?
• What is the price to performance ratio based on my specific business needs?

It's important to point out that winning with CEM also requires a holistic approach internally that cuts across operational silos. Masergy, an independent service provider that offers its global cloud networking platform to enterprise customers, has seen solid growth and very high net promoter scores (NPS) because it embraces CEM from the ground up. "Everything we’ve built and designed is with the customer experience in mind," said John Dumbleton, SVP, Business Development, Masergy. It's important for service providers to "enter these relationship as a partnership, not a typical vendor/customer relationship," he added. Masergy goes to great lengths to ascertain the voice of the customer and develop proactive solutions, and then uses Satmetrix, a cloud-based NPS software tool, to validate their efforts.

Today, CEM is a must-have, and CSPs must continue to invest in CEM strategies in order to rapidly innovate, maximize their legacy investments, and attract and retain customers. This guide is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it should put readers on the right path.