Firms seek help with automation, expert skills as outstanding customer experience becomes essential to business success, ISG Provider Lens™ report says

Enterprises worldwide are turning to service providers to transform contact center customer experience, increasingly important for winning and keeping new customers, according to a new research report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Contact Center — Customer Experience Services report finds that many companies have elevated customer experience (CX) to a key competitive differentiator discussed in board meetings and disclosed in financial reports. However, traditional contact centers are not delivering the CX that enterprises want, especially in customer-centric industries such as retail, banking and healthcare, so the field is being disrupted by new approaches and technologies.

“Changing consumer expectations have multiplied the complexity of providing exceptional customer experience,” said Wayne Butterfield, partner at ISG. “In order to keep up, more companies are engaging with service providers for contact center expertise.”

Enterprises are embracing automation for some contact center functions, but they recognize that excellent CX requires a fine balance between technology and people, ISG says. To serve emerging CX needs, leading service providers are building teams of highly skilled agents who understand specific industries and can resolve the most complex requests.

Companies are turning to service providers for an assessment of their digital maturity and a holistic understanding of customer expectations, the report says. By introducing best practices, providers enable clients to roll out new CX capabilities quickly and provide a seamless experience across multiple channels.

AI has taken on a central role in contact center systems as more enterprises adopt it and develop innovations, ISG says. AI-based tools are improving CX through features such as conversational AI and intelligent interactive voice response, while data analytics help improve agents’ experience by providing information about customers’ queries and suggestions for how to respond to them.

Generative AI is already starting to enter the picture, with enterprises identifying use cases and launching proofs of concept for applications such as near-real-time translation and content moderation, ISG says. However, most enterprises are moving cautiously due to concerns about the current state of security.

“AI and analytics are prime areas of interest in contact center CX,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “Enterprise adoption is rising exponentially, and generative AI may fuel even faster growth with appropriate support from service providers.”

The report also explores other global trends in contact center services, including the impact of permanent hybrid work modes and of environmental, social and governance requirements.

For more insights into the customer experience challenges facing enterprises and advice on how to address them, including how to ensure service providers can retain specialized talent, see the ISG Provider Lens™ Focal Points briefing here.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Contact Center — Customer Experience Services report evaluates the capabilities of 32 providers across four quadrants: Digital Operations, Hybrid Working Solutions, Intelligent CX (AI & Analytics) and Social Media CX Services.

The report names Foundever, Sutherland, Teleperformance and WNS as Leaders in all four quadrants. It names Atento, Concentrix, Conduent, Genpact and HGS as Leaders in three quadrants each. Alorica, Movate, Tech Mahindra, Transcom and TTEC are named as Leaders in two quadrants each, and Cognizant, Startek and Webhelp are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, Hexaware is named as a Rising Star — a company with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition — in two quadrants. Infosys and Movate are named as Rising Stars in one quadrant each.

Customized versions of the report are available from Foundever, Hexaware, Movate and WNS.

The 2023 ISG Provider Lens™ global Contact Center — Customer Experience Services report is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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