Today’s buzz: Who’s minding your call center right now? You’d better know who. Because they alone are responsible for the instant opinion a caller forms about your entire company. Are your agents generating rolls of thunder or applause for you? The experts speak. Dennis Goodheart, IP Network Consulting: “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” (Abraham Lincoln) Neal Shact, CommuniTech: “The customer expe...

Listen to the Episode

May 1, 2013

The Next Generation: Social and Business

Social and business. Will this marriage last? The experts speak. Prof. Jerry Kane: “We're only at the beginning of the revolution ushered in by and through social, mobile, and digital technologies. Businesses, societies, and governments will be so radically different in 15 years...we’ll barely recognize them.” Gabi San Martin: “Business...has quickly become a conversation between the customer and the company.” Rohit Ohri: “As social media becomes overloaded and ‘popular,’ the key skill will be p...

Listen to the Episode

April 24, 2013

People Who Need People: Caregiving Goes Social and Mobile

Reality check: Health matters. More than your job, social status, money, car, house. But health is elusive. So much so that 65 million U.S. caregivers provide weekly care to the ill, disabled, aged. How can technology help? The experts speak. Robert M. Miller, National Fragile X Foundation: “Technology will never replace the caring spirit, but technology can provide the necessary tools for caring to make a real difference in the lives of those with special needs.” Louise W. Gane, MS, M.I.N.D. In...

Listen to the Episode

April 17, 2013

Defying Gravity: SMEs Go Global

Today’s buzz: Should we pin our hopes for a vibrant global economy, sustainable innovation and job creation on high growth entrepreneurs aka small and midsized enterprises (SMEs)? The experts speak. Aviva Freudmann, EIU: “SMEs in developed and developing economies show surprising similarities in their goals and expectations. For all the challenges they face in their business environments, they are an exceedingly optimistic bunch...” Bryan Pearce, Ernst & Young: “Last year, our 650 U.S. EOY final...

Listen to the Episode

April 10, 2013

Business on Speed: Real-Time Insights and Execution

Big Data dominates the business conversation. Of its “3 V” attributes – Volume, Variety, Velocity – the third is grabbing the spotlight. Bottom line: Are you getting answers fast enough to support real-time business? The experts speak. Lee Dittmar, Deloitte: “Analytics prowess will determine winners and losers. But even as we talk about Big Data and the importance of ‘predictive analytics,’ many organizations still struggle to accomplish basic reporting efficiently and effectively. As companies ...

Listen to the Episode

April 3, 2013

Debunking Big Data Myths: the Elephant in the Room

Dizzy from all the hype around Small vs. Big Data, big picture vs. exact insights, real-time vs. right-time answers, and more? The experts speak. Evan Quinn, ESG Global: “We're entering a new world in which data may be more important than software.”(Tim O’Reilly) Marie Goodell, SAP: “Every day, 3 times per second, we produce the equivalent amount of data that the Library of Congress has in its entire print collection. But most of it is like cat videos on YouTube or 13-year-olds exchanging text m...

Listen to the Episode

March 27, 2013

Business Networks: More Than Social

Business networks. You connect with people you know, want to know, should know on social networks. Should your company join, too? Tim Minahan: “Online social networking tools have transformed our personal lives by connecting us to people and information in new ways. Businesses are undergoing that same process. How many times did you check Facebook, LinkedIn, send a tweet, text, Instagram in the past 30 minutes?” Quentin Fisher: “’Ants aren’t smart, ant colonies are.’ (D. Gordon, Stanford Univ.)....

Listen to the Episode

March 20, 2013

Airline Turnaround: Blue Skies Ahead?

Today’s buzz: Airlines. New technologies are game-changing the data-intensive aviation industry – optimizing internal processes, sharpening competitive differentiation, innovating the customer experience. But is it enough, in time, and which airlines will survive? The experts speak. Michael Wm. Denis, InfoTrust Group: “Why pay billions for smart aircraft only to plug them into dumb IT? Peter Kearns, Accenture: “Airline industry business benefits related to IT improvements will be negligible unle...

Listen to the Episode