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Automation Anywhere Launches AI-Powered RPA-as-a-Service Platform To Accelerate Global RPA Adoption

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October 4, 2019

Automation Anywhere Launches AI-Powered RPA-as-a-Service Platform To Accelerate Global RPA Adoption

Automation Anywhere, a global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), announced that it has launched the world’s first purely web-based, cloud-native Digital Workforce platform, Automation Anywhere Enterprise A2019.

Enterprise A2019 is now available both on-premise and in any public, private or hybrid cloud, delivering RPA-as-a-Service seamlessly to any user and any business through any delivery channel anywhere in the world. The game-changing platform, now available in more than 14 languages, dramatically reduces cost and infrastructure barriers to RPA adoption.

The company’s flagship platform – inspired by the ways in which humans work – now includes more than 175 new features across 40 different product capabilities to simplify business automation. It also incorporates feedback from more than 3,000 customers worldwide and thousands of hours of research and development to bring automation one step closer to recognizing the $100 billion market opportunity industry analysts have predicted.

“As technologies evolve, they reach an inflection point and to go further you must make important meaningful departures from what everyone else is doing,” said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-founder, Automation Anywhere. “Enterprise A2019 is that dramatic departure, with a refreshing, instant-on user experience that eliminates the friction many companies still experience in building, deploying and scaling bots. Beginning today, users can log on to the platform from any web browser, dramatically increasing the speed of deploying RPA while decreasing the time in which companies derive compelling business value.”

The new Enterprise A2019 platform offers enterprises of all sizes unprecedented capabilities. These include:

Instant-on ease of use: The highly intuitive, web-based interface simplifies bot development, helping organizations automate more business processes than ever before. Using a web browser, users of all types and skill levels can log in and build their first bots in minutes. There’s nothing to install, configure or maintain. The RPA platform enables users to effortlessly create software bots on any operating system – Windows, macOS, or Linux – and on any device.
Cloud-native for unprecedented scale: Enterprise A2019 is a cloud-native platform that offers customers both RPA-as-a-Service from the cloud, as well as an on-premise deployment with enterprise-class data privacy, security and encryption in each. The software-as-a-service model allows users to gain the inherent benefits of RPA, but with reduced cost of ownership, near-infinite scalability and dramatically decreased time to value. Customers can choose to deploy on-premise or provision it from the cloud.
Infused with Artificial intelligence (AI): Users now have the ability to leverage built-in AI capabilities and easily integrate third-party AI solutions, such as computer vision, natural language processing and predictive modeling – all with the simplicity of drag-and-drop AI into any automation workflow.
New Attended Automation 2.0: Users now have access to new automation technology that provides greater bot and human collaboration across teams and workflows. This makes automation of front office processes much easier, faster and more cost efficient.

“Many enterprises today are recognizing the benefits of automation and are currently in the midst of understanding the best strategies for optimal implementation,” said Sarah Burnett, Executive Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Everest Group. “With features such as a function-specific user experience, availability on multiple clouds, RPA-as-a-Service, and built-in AI capabilities, this new release from Automation Anywhere could simplify automation and reduce its cost of ownership. These types of developments will increase the market for automation, bringing it within the reach of more enterprises with different budgets and tech skills.”

“Automation Anywhere Enterprise A2019 has a new web interface that is streamlined for a variety of users, enabling a collaborative work environment, while enhancing efficiency and productivity,” said Marshall Couch, Intelligent Automation Consultant, Eastman. “Downloading and managing bots used to be cumbersome, but with the new cloud-based platform, bots are available on-demand for improved scalability as well as simplified user access and functionality.”

Enterprises Want Providers to Manage Entire Workloads

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Enterprises Want Providers to Manage Entire Workloads

ISG Provider Lens Report Finds Companies Looking for Cloud-Based Managed Services Providers That Combine Artificial Intelligence, Analytics and Iot Expertise

Enterprises are looking for technology vendors that can manage their entire IT workloads in hybrid cloud environments to support their increasingly agile and globally distributed operations, according to a new report published by Information Services Group, a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2019 ISG Provider Lens Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions Archetype report also finds enterprises embracing cloud-based services that offer integrated and cognitive technology, including artificial intelligence-based services.

Many enterprises are looking to use AI and analytics services to ensure that customer needs remain a central focus and customer satisfaction remains high, the report says.

“Managed services are continuously innovated with cutting-edge technologies in an as-a-service model,” said Jan Erik Aase, director and global leader of ISG Provider Lens Research. “Enterprises want providers to manage their IT workloads by combining artificial intelligence with real-time analytics and smart monitoring.”

In addition to AI and analytics, enterprises are increasing their use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and are looking for mature managed services providers to manage their IoT systems and offer IoT-centric security, the report says. Emerging technology like blockchain and big data also will create big opportunities for infrastructure-focused managed services providers, the report adds.

Enterprise budgets for hybrid cloud computing, meanwhile, have doubled in recent years, the report says. However, cloud technology is not always easy to implement and manage, and many enterprises have realized they need outside expertise to gain the benefits of cloud computing, the report adds.

The 2019 ISG Provider Lens™ Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Center Services & Solutions Archetype report examines four different types of clients, or archetypes, that are looking for cloud-based data center and managed services providers. The report evaluates the capabilities of 30 providers to deliver services to the four archetypes:

Traditional archetype: These clients have limited outsourcing experience and work with service providers through selective outsourcing. They only outsource a small fraction of their data center operations, through staff augmentation, project-based work or partial outsourcing of ongoing infrastructure management. Cost optimization is their primary focus.

Managed services archetype (mid-sized focus): These clients have previously signed small outsourcing contracts, with a focus on cost optimization, and are now willing to transfer greater operational responsibility to an outsourcing service provider. Their budgets are constrained, however, and the focus is on tactical service-level agreements. These companies are willing to embrace some transformation elements, such as modest investments in automation and cloud.

Transformation archetype (large-scale focus): These companies are third-generation outsourcers with a preference for an optimized mix of onshore, nearshore and offshore delivery models. They are not severely constrained by budgets and can undertake large transformation initiatives. They view service providers as strategic partners, and they seek to provide IT services to their business units using an as-a-service, utility-based model.

Pioneering archetype: These clients seek to extend their transformation initiatives with investments in software-defined networking and storage to realize, in some cases, an end-to-end software-defined data center. They seek service providers with the knowledge and experience in software-defined enabling tools, including hyper-converged storage systems. These clients have already achieved a significant level of cloud adoption and now focus on further optimizing hybrid cloud management, including next-generation practices such as workload portability.

Among the providers ISG evaluated, Cognizant, DXC Technology, HCL, IBM, Microland, NTT, TCS, Unisys and Wipro were named leaders across two archetypes. Accenture, Atos, Capgemini, Ensono, Fujitsu, GAVS, HTC (Ciber), LTI, Mindtree, NTT DATA, Orange Business Services, Sungard AS, Tech Mahindra, UST Global and Zensar were named leaders in one archetype.

Adam Petrovsky Joins ConvergeOne as Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah

Sales Engagement

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Adam Petrovsky Joins ConvergeOne as Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah

ConvergeOne, a leading global IT services provider of collaboration and technology solutions, announced that Adam Petrovsky has joined the company as Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah. He will report to Klaus Hillmann, Executive Vice President, US West.

Petrovsky’s appointment reaffirms ConvergeOne’s commitment to strengthening its regional approach to serving customers, which allows its sales team to think locally and ensure an agile customer experience. In his role, Petrovsky will be responsible for managing the profitability, sales revenue growth, customer satisfaction and overall strategic direction for ConvergeOne’s SOCAL and Utah region. With over 150 employees in region, Adam will further develop the relationships with key regional partners while ensuring the regional strategy aligns with ConvergeOne’s corporate direction.

Petrovsky is an innovative and successful technology industry professional with more than 20 years of measurable achievement and prestigious leadership roles. He brings valuable industry knowledge, proven strategic planning ability, and strong business management experience to ConvergeOne. Most recently, Petrovsky was Vice President, US SLED/Public Sector, with Logicalis. Before that, Adam spent six years with Dimension Data in multiple roles.

“I am very excited to welcome Adam to the ConvergeOne team in the role of Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah,” said Hillmann. “What sets ConvergeOne apart is the caliber of our people. With his status as a trusted and respected leader within the industry, Adam is the right person to guide the region’s continued growth and success. I am proud of what we are building in this region, and we are now better equipped than ever to delight our SOCAL and Utah customers.”

Bison Names Jason Weinstein Chief Executive Officer

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Bison Names Jason Weinstein Chief Executive Officer

Boston Illiquid Securities Offering Network, Inc. (“Bison”), the company behind private market solutions platforms Cobalt GP and Cobalt LP, announced that Jason Weinstein has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, effective October 4, 2019, when co-founder Rasmus Goksor will step down from his operating role at the Company.

“In Jason we have found the seasoned operational and growth strategist we believe will help to make a reality the ambitious vision we have for Bison as the leading private markets data platform,” said Erik Hirsch, Chairman of Bison’s Board of Directors and Vice Chairman and Head of Strategic Initiatives at Hamilton Lane. “On behalf of the Bison Board of Directors, I want to thank Rasmus for his partnership over the last eight years, and wish him every success in his future endeavors.”

Jason was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of Bison. Prior to joining Bison, Jason held leadership roles that spanned client development, sales, and marketing for McGraw-Hill Education, Crystal & Company, Relationship Science, and Capital IQ. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Tufts University.

Rasmus commented: “It is an exciting time for Jason to lead Bison. With more than 110 institutional fund managers and investors already leveraging the Cobalt GP and LP platforms today, Bison’s future is bright.”

Jason said: “I am honored to be appointed Bison’s CEO. I am energized by the opportunity to expand the Cobalt product offering and scale our market footprint at a time when the private market investment space is ripe for new solutions to important processes. I am looking forward to working closely with the Bison team to continue to deliver innovative solutions to fund managers and investors around the world.”

Video Conferencing Equipment Supplier, IVCi, Explains What Av as a Service Is and Why Your Company Needs It

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Video Conferencing Equipment Supplier, IVCi, Explains What Av as a Service Is and Why Your Company Needs It

With a transforming economy, the AV industry has begun to transform as well. More often we’re seeing AV companies turn away from more traditional installations towards service-based offerings. AV as a Service is a rapidly growing business model used in the AV industry in response to new customer demands and evolving technology. Video conferencing equipment supplier, IVCi, explains what AV as a Service is and why your company needs it. Read their discussion below to learn more.

What is AV as a Service?
AV as a Service, or AVaaS, is a business concept redefining the AV industry. Instead of customers paying installation and service charges afterwards, AVaaS provides continuous AV support to client installations, managing the entirety of the AV system from installation to maintenance. AVaaS is a subscription style pay model, with customers signing contracts or entering into monthly subscriptions with AV service providers who provide equipment, troubleshooting, and regular maintenance, among other options like data analytics and optimization. There are a variety of benefits that come with the AVaaS model as well.

AV as a Service Benefits:

Scalable: The AVaaS model makes AV services highly scalable across a customer base. With one successful and effective AV installation can come a host of other installations in the same building or company, connected by common cloud technology and overall management systems. This scalability allows AV companies to continuously meet the ever-changing demands of their customers, even as new technologies come and go.
Streamlined Communication & Operations: One of the biggest benefits of the AVaaS system is the increased efficiency of communication and operations. Streamlining AV operations with an AV service provider allows updates to occur more frequently, as well as regular equipment checkups and upgrades as technology advances. With only the customer and the AV provider, communication between the involved parties is easy and responsive, enhancing overall communications regarding the AV set-up.
Allows for a greater client relationship development: If a customer sets up an AVaaS system, they become connected with one single AV provider that handles all of their training, operations, and maintenance. This allows for a closer and more connected relationship between the AV provider and its customers. The relationship development benefits everybody, as the AV operator can better assess a business’s nature and provide the best solutions for their unique needs, enhancing the overall customer service experience.

AV as a Service is the future of the AV industry because of its various benefits that help not only the AV company, but their customers as well. See how incorporating AVaaS can impact your AV business’s revenue stream today.

RingCentral to Become Exclusive Provider Of UCaaS Solutions To Avaya In Strategic Partnership

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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RingCentral to Become Exclusive Provider Of UCaaS Solutions To Avaya In Strategic Partnership

Accelerates Transition of One of the World’s Largest On-Premise Unified Communications Installed Bases to the Cloud

RingCentral, Inc. , a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, and contact center solutions, announced that it will enter into a commercial agreement with Avaya Holdings Corp., a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, making it the exclusive provider of Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions to Avaya. RingCentral and Avaya will introduce a new solution, “Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral” (“Avaya Cloud Office” or “ACO”). RingCentral and Avaya will jointly develop programs to leverage Avaya’s global sales and partner network, as well as build automated technologies for seamless customer transition to RingCentral’s leading global UCaaS solution.

“This strategic partnership leverages the respective strengths of Avaya and RingCentral to provide a definitive differentiated solution,” said Vlad Shmunis, Founder, Chairman and CEO, RingCentral. “We are excited to bring RingCentral’s leading UCaaS platform to Avaya’s installed base of over 100 million users and over 4,700 partners, providing long-term growth opportunities for both our companies.”

Avaya has one of the world’s largest installed base of on-premise Unified Communications (UC) seats, and an extensive partner network, spanning over 180 countries. Avaya Cloud Office will maximize Avaya’s global market opportunity by adding a strong cloud solution to its portfolio.

“Avaya and RingCentral’s joint investment and commitment to bringing Avaya Cloud Office to market creates an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the transition to the cloud with attractive economics for our customers and partners,” said Jim Chirico, President and CEO of Avaya. “This also gives us the opportunity to unlock value from a largely unmonetized base of our business as it brings compelling value to our customers and partners. We believe this highly complementary partnership is a game changer that expands the total addressable market for Avaya and creates meaningful value for both Avaya and RingCentral.”

Avaya and RingCentral will jointly develop programs, technologies, and automation to facilitate smooth transition of Avaya’s UC customer base to the cloud. This collaboration will enable Avaya’s customers to leverage their existing investments while drastically reducing migration complexities and timeframes. Avaya Cloud Office is expected to provide an attractive total cost of ownership for Avaya customers and favorable compensation for Avaya and its partners.

Under the commercial agreement, both companies will contribute resources towards development and sales & marketing of Avaya Cloud Office. RingCentral will pay Avaya an advance of $375 million, predominantly for future commissions, as well as certain licensing rights (the “Consideration Advance”). The Consideration Advance will be paid primarily in stock.

RingCentral will also purchase $125 million aggregate principal amount of 3% convertible and redeemable preferred stock, obtaining approximately a 6% position in Avaya on an as-converted basis. This will be funded with existing cash on balance sheet. This minority investment will require neither partial or full financial statement consolidation nor equity method accounting.

Additional information regarding the transaction will be included in a Form 8-K that will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as an exclusive advisor to RingCentral. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is serving as an exclusive legal counsel to RingCentral.

This agreement does not require shareholder vote of either company, is subject to customary regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in Q4 2019. The Board of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

The company also announced that it will hold a conference call today October 3, 2019 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time (5:00 PM Eastern Time) to discuss this transaction.

Avaya Announces Strategic Partnership With RingCentral To Accelerate Transformation To The Cloud

Sales Engagement

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Avaya Announces Strategic Partnership With RingCentral To Accelerate Transformation To The Cloud

Additionally Announces $500 Million Share Repurchase Authorization and $250 Million Debt Paydown

Avaya Holdings Corp., a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, announced a strategic partnership with RingCentral, Inc., a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration and contact center solutions. Through this exclusive partnership, Avaya will introduce Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral (“Avaya Cloud Office” or “ACO”), a new global unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solution.

Avaya Cloud Office expands the company’s industry-leading portfolio to offer a full suite of UC, CC, UCaaS and CCaaS solutions to a global customer base, which includes more than 120,000 customers, over 100 million UC lines and 5 million CC users in over 180 countries.

“Avaya and RingCentral’s joint investment and commitment to bringing Avaya Cloud Office to market creates an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the transition to the cloud with attractive economics for our customers and partners,” said Jim Chirico, President and CEO of Avaya. “This also gives us the opportunity to unlock value from a largely unmonetized base of our business as it brings compelling value to our customers and partners. We believe this highly complementary partnership is a game changer that expands the total addressable market for Avaya and creates meaningful value for both Avaya and RingCentral.”

ACO combines RingCentral’s leading UCaaS platform with Avaya technology, services and migration capabilities to create a highly differentiated UCaaS offering. Avaya expects to launch ACO in the first quarter of calendar 2020.

“This strategic partnership leverages the respective strengths of Avaya and RingCentral to provide a definitive differentiated solution,” said Vlad Shmunis, Founder, Chairman and CEO of RingCentral. “We are excited to bring RingCentral’s leading UCaaS platform to Avaya’s installed base of over 100 million users and over 4,700 partners, providing long-term growth opportunities for both our companies.”

Chirico added, “The strategic actions that we are executing as a result of our comprehensive review create new growth opportunities, return capital to our shareholders and de-lever our balance sheet. With a clear path forward, we will further invest in technology and innovation to continue bringing state-of-the-art solutions to our valued customers and partners.”

Capital Allocation Priorities

Avaya’s Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program under which it may purchase up to $500 million of Avaya’s common stock. Avaya also announced plans to pay down $250 million of the principal debt under its Term Loan B.

Transaction Terms

RingCentral is contributing $500 million to its partnership with Avaya, including a $125 million investment of 3% redeemable preferred equity that is convertible at $16 per share, representing an approximate 6% position in Avaya on as-converted basis. RingCentral will also pay Avaya an advance of $375 million primarily in stock for future payments and certain licensing rights.

Timing and Approvals

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of calendar 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The transaction does not require the approval of the shareholders of Avaya or RingCentral. The Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

Box Strengthens Partnership with Adobe to Further Boost Cloud Collaboration

Abhishek Upadhyay

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October 4, 2019

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Box Strengthens Partnership with Adobe to Further Boost Cloud Collaboration

Users Will Be Able to Modify, Organize, Sign, and Collaborate on PDFs Directly in Box.

Today’s Enterprise Document Sharing market is very different from what we knew in the early years of the century. With better software integrations and technology collaborations, leaders in Document Sharing business are coming together to deliver best-in-class customer experience and Cloud collaboration to enterprises and SMBs.

In one such key development, Box, a Cloud Content Management platform, announced the availability of a full-featured Adobe Acrobat web experience directly in Box platform. As a result, users can now open PDF files stored in Box directly in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader and make edits securely. They would be able to sign, share, and store back the files in Box. Box has also announced integration with Splunk and Microsoft recently. This will ensure content security controls and intelligent threat detection capabilities are in place, while data protection, governance, and compliance measures are expanded.

This will include powerful capabilities to organize, alter, sign, and collaborate on PDFs. As a result, customers that rely on Adobe and Box will now be able to effortlessly work on shared workflows on the Cloud easily and securely when it comes to digital documents. Box is modernizing content-centric workflows so that enterprises can get more work done in much less time.

Box understands that documents are critical to every workflow across organizations, for all departments. Quite often, organizing, managing, and collaborating on important content becomes a tough task. In such a scenario, easy collaboration among team members is a must. Box has been working in conjunction with Adobe since 2016 to enable users effortlessly access, alter, and complete PDF-centric tasks and workflows, right within Box. The customers have now got more to cheer about. The latest integration will allow them to open PDF files from Box directly in the Acrobat web viewer. The users will be able to access essential PDF and e-signature tools in order to complete their workflows from any device and location.

Simple, Secure, and Powerful Collaboration; Available to Joint Users Next Year

Jeetu Patel, CPO at Box stressed on the fact that organizations nowadays require to securely collaborate across their extensive enterprise of employees, clients, and partners in every division of their companies. He told that the newly formed integrations with Adobe Acrobat tools will enable enterprises to collaborate and work fully in the cloud. Jeetu added, “Mission-critical processes like reviewing, approving and electronically signing contracts, or collaborating on confidential product designs, will be simple and secure. No more version control issues, no more downloading files to the desktop. Just simple, secure, and powerful collaboration.”

Ashley Still, VP and GM of Digital Media at Adobe quoted that Box and Adobe together shared a vision to simplify and modernize how workplace collaboration happens and are improving their offerings regularly. The integration between Box and Adobe will allow users to perform a range of functions directly from Box. Here are some of the features:

Revise and organize existing PDFs with the delete, reorder, and rotate capabilities available.
Create HQ PDFs and export them into other file formats, preserving the fonts, formatting, and layouts.
Combine multiple file formats.
Capture e-signature activity in the Box Activity Stream.
Send a document for signature from the Box Recommended Apps experience.

Any edits done with Adobe Acrobat tolls will be saved back to Box. The integration has made sure the joint customers do not need to switch between apps in order to access and organize important documents. The Box and Adobe integrations will be available next year for joint customers and will be a key landmark in the area of Cloud collaboration. Dropbox comes close to Box in terms of allowing easy sharing of documents on the Cloud. Microsoft Office 365, OneNote, and OneDrive are some of the other Cloud-based platforms that offer similar services.

Read More: Role Of CRM In Retail Environment

At 50%, Connected TV Hits New High of Video Ad Impressions Served by Extreme Reach

Native & Programmatic Advertising

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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At 50%, Connected TV Hits New High of Video Ad Impressions Served by Extreme Reach

With New Insights on Automotive and Direct-to-Consumer Categories, Q2 Video Benchmarks Report Shows Strength of Premium Publishers for DTC Brands while Autos Lag Behind in Adoption of CTV

Connected TV (CTV) has established itself as a brand building essential that is clearly here to stay. It now accounts for a full 50% of all video ad impressions–twice that of mobile–according to the latest Video Benchmarks report from Extreme Reach (ER), the complete asset management solution for TV and video ads. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter that CTV has outranked mobile in the number of impressions served by device.

ER’s quarterly Video Benchmarks reports are based on data from the company’s AdBridge platform, and specifically its video ad server. The data is used to track emerging trends through a range of metrics, including video ad completion and viewability rates, and according to destination (i.e., premium publisher vs. media aggregator) and device (i.e., desktop, mobile, tablet and CTV). This latest version marks the addition of metrics for two advertising verticals: automotive and direct-to-consumer (DTC).

As more viewers incorporate over-the-top devices and streaming services into their media consumption habits (nearly two-thirds of the population, according to eMarketer), advertisers are following suit, attracted not just by the number of consumers viewing content on CTV, but by the performance of the ads. With an average completion rate of 95 percent, the ability to engage audiences for longer durations and the platform’s reliance on premium inventory that significantly lowers exposure to ad fraud, it’s no wonder that ad dollars allocated to CTV are on the rise. Globally, analyst firm Digital TV Research estimates CTV ad revenues will reach $129.3 billion in 2023, almost double that of 2018.

“The growing prominence of non-linear TV options is giving advertisers a wealth of new opportunities for engaging with consumers in meaningful ways, especially when you consider the new targeting technologies that enable unprecedented levels of personalization,” said James Shears, VP of Advanced Advertising for Extreme Reach. “It’s important for marketers to broaden their focus and take advantage of the fragmentation while finding those devices that work best for their brands.”

“We are excited to be able to offer additional insights on ad performance that can help brands and agencies navigate a constantly changing media landscape,” said Mary Vestewig, Senior Director, Video Account Management for Extreme Reach. “Advertisers have more avenues for using video to captivate consumers than ever before. But they face more complexity in getting their creative out there. Our aim is always to help simplify that process with the technology, data and insight that have measurable impacts on campaign effectiveness.”

Top-line findings include:

Impressions by Device

CTV has ascended to a key player in terms of impressions served by device, reaching 50% in Q2, up 31% from the previous year. The gain comes at the expense of impressions served to tablets and desktop; a reflection of how and where today’s viewers are consuming content.
But in the Auto vertical, the percent of impressions served to CTV decreased in Q2 by 29%, landing at 45%. While still strong, Autos are exhibiting a slower pace of CTV adoption than the broader group of advertisers as a whole. In that same period, mobile impressions nearly doubled and desktop impressions also rose.

In Premium We Trust–Most of the Time

In Q2 2019, premium publishers accounted for 83% of overall impressions vs. 17% for media aggregators. This speaks both to CTV’s ascending position in the digital landscape and, notably, the trust most advertisers place in premium.
DTC brands show a distinct preference for premium publishers. Impressions for DTC video ads in Q2 were served nearly entirely (99.8%) to premium sites. This rate is about 20% higher than the broader group of advertisers, which makes sense given that DTC companies are all about performance.
In contrast, Auto advertisers in Q2 made a shift toward media aggregators with a 51% quarter-over-quarter increase in impressions served to those sites. The percent of impressions served to premium publishers declined by 27% in that period.
This could signal an aggregator renaissance as CTV inventory grows: To date, CTV inventory has been almost exclusively sold by premium publishers directly to agencies and advertisers, however such deviations for the Auto sector might suggest that as CTV inventory increases, the law of supply and demand could cause greater availability of CTV via programmatic exchanges.

The Long and Short of It–Does Length Really Matter?

ER’s data shows that 30-second ads continued to dominate in Q2 despite a 7% drop from Q1 that put the category at 64%. In the same Q1 to Q2 period, 15-second ads saw a significant 20% rise in impressions. The year-over-year figures were notably different, however, with 15-second ads decreasing by 24% and 30-second spots increasing by 19%. 6-second ads saw a slight decline (7%) YoY and a nearly 60% rise for Q2.
In Q1 2019, the proportion of 15- and 30-second ads for the Auto sector was quite similar to the average of the larger group. 30-second spots account for 66% of impressions and 15-second ads represent 34%. In Q2, however, the proportion of 30-second ads for auto increased significantly to 83%, whereas the average for the broader group fell slightly to 64%.
For DTC, 95% of video ads were 30-seconds in Q2 2019, substantially higher than the 64% for the broader group. This is not surprising given the category’s investment in building deeper engagement directly with customers.
The takeaway here is that there is no “ideal” ad length and that quarter-by-quarter and year-over-year variations reflect advertisers’ deepening understanding that ad lengths need to be determined by purpose, vertical, audience, format and device rather than the trend du jour.

Inside Marketing Boosts Sales Performance With Vonage

STS News Desk

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October 4, 2019

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Inside Marketing Boosts Sales Performance With Vonage

Vonage, a global business cloud communications leader, announced that Inside Marketing, who partners with technology companies to accelerate inside sales, has experienced rapid growth and major gains in performance and productivity by implementing Vonage’s NewVoiceMedia (NVM) contact center solution.

Inside Marketing is a fast-growing organization focused on lead generation and relationship building for technology companies such as Google, HP and Oracle. Headquartered in London, the company creates success for its B2B customer base by calling prospective clients for data, appointment setting, event support, sales recruitment and contact syndication. With a global network of over one million contacts, Inside Marketing delivers intelligent client relationship building systems which use data to improve targeting, customer experience and sales success.

Inside Marketing deployed Vonage’s NVM solution to improve outbound calling efficiency for its team of 80 agents. The inside sales solution is designed to scale as rapidly as the business and deliver sales excellence in line with the company’s objectives. Functionality such as automated outbound dialing, flexible caller line identification and instantaneous CRM updates are provided with 99.999% platform availability.

The NVM solution integrates with Salesforce, which was critical to Inside Marketing. This combination provided the insight needed to drive growth. Reports are now available in real-time, covering the number of calls made, how many connected, how many lead to meetings and when the best time is to make contact. This improved reporting offered through the NVM solution provides significant benefits to Inside Marketing by enabling the company to provide better insights to clients.

Within a year of implementing Vonage’s NVM solution, Inside Marketing has seen major performance improvements including:

Rapid growth and an uplift in call engagement of 11 percent.
The solution’s integration with Salesforce has also raised productivity by 10 percent in just two months. Agents can now easily ‘click-to-call’, meaning time to dial is 100 percent faster, and data fields previously written manually are now automated, saving more time in wrapping calls.

“The sophistication of Vonage’s NVM platform really stood out compared to others we considered,” says Jonathan Hewerdine, Director of Operations at Inside Marketing. “Only a few months on and the system has proven to be a massive improvement on the legacy platform. The implementation was swift and well planned, with the team working closely with us from proof of concept through to UK and then European roll-out. I can’t praise them highly enough.”

Hewerdine continues, “Overall, Vonage’s solution has given us more intelligent and insightful data to better plan activity for clients, allowing agent time to be used more efficiently. The quality of our Business Development Team is also improving as we can train more effectively using instantly-available call recordings which capture all elements of the call – from whispers and notes, to who was listening, and more. Our agents appreciate the ability to listen to their own calls immediately and this increases their engagement.”

Ken McMahon, Senior Vice President, Customer Success at Vonage, comments, “It’s great to see that Inside Marketing has experienced such incredible success with our NewVoiceMedia solution. Not only has Inside Marketing experienced new business growth, it’s also boosted connection rates with new clients, improved its performance and enhanced the customer service experience. And of course, as a cloud solution, our technology will continue to support the company throughout its rapid future growth.”

Enterprises Want Providers to Manage Entire Workloads

Adam Petrovsky Joins ConvergeOne as Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah

Bison Names Jason Weinstein Chief Executive Officer

Video Conferencing Equipment Supplier, IVCi, Explains What Av as a Service Is and Why Your Company Needs It

RingCentral to Become Exclusive Provider Of UCaaS Solutions To Avaya In Strategic Partnership

Avaya Announces Strategic Partnership With RingCentral To Accelerate Transformation To The Cloud

At 50%, Connected TV Hits New High of Video Ad Impressions Served by Extreme Reach

Popular Posts

Enterprises Want Providers to Manage Entire Workloads

Adam Petrovsky Joins ConvergeOne as Regional Vice President, SOCAL and Utah

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