As a result, there is a need to change the way they operate to succeed across processes, people and systems.

A sign of any good business is the provision of excellent customer service; it is vital to listen and respond to the customer’s direct needs. In the field of technology, this has meant a shift change in what is delivered. Enterprise technology has drastically transformed in the last five years and will continue to do so as we enter 2018. With an increasing number of organisations adopting the likes of bots, digital assistants, IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to boost productivity amongst staff, achieving exemplary customer service in a timely manner will be a must.

In tandem with this, organisations need to embrace disruptive innovations that are embedded in the sharing economy and P2P networks, learning to adapt their transactional processes as a result.

Cloud, mobility & IoT link to software
For as long as many of us can remember, cloud, mobility and IoT have been earmarked as the disruptors of the modern day. However, as the millennials who are so familiar with these forms of technology infiltrate the workforce, they are becoming less groundbreaking. SaaS is now so prevalent that 2018 is likely to be the start of the end of cloud as a concept in its own right. We are moving to a world in which all software will be delivered via the cloud.

For instance, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently revealed that, for the 2015-16 year, almost one-third of local businesses were already on the cloud. And there is no sign of going back. According to Gartner, the public cloud services market in Australia is forecast to reach A$6.5 billion, up 15 percent from last year.

Unbundling SaaS and marketplaces
The services’ economy along with advances in technology have helped to make the idea of mammoth enterprise application stacks almost extinct. We expect this trend to continue in 2018 as more organisations adopt microservices, or bite sized applications that are simple to develop and deploy, and slot together to provide positive business results more quickly and cheaply for the customer.

This trend is empowering a new enterprise marketplace with new demand for digital ecosystems akin to the app stores we are used to. As businesses develop and deliver more and more point applications using microservices, we will see the rise of privately run marketplaces that allow users to select and deploy the applications that they wish to use.

Artificial intelligence and bots
AI has soared in popularity, entering the marketplace recently in the form of chatbots which boast a friendly and informal interface. It’s early days of course, and aside from some helpful customer service bots and personal assistants like Cortana, digital assistants are currently serving one primary purpose in the enterprise. They provide a way for the user to benefit from the data in their business systems without the difficulty of navigating those systems which are still cumbersome and not user friendly in terms of the user experience we expect today.

The use of machine learning to translate huge amounts of data into intelligent decisions and actions is where the real magic lies. Just like the work being done around self-driving cars, enterprise software will become self-driving, interpreting available data and applying it to determine a user’s intentions, and to suggest the best course of action, and even taking that action for them in some cases.

Alongside this, predictive analytics are driving previously unheard of robotics within SaaS, finessing the experience of the end user while improving efficiency and accuracy. This is especially true in the field of sales and marketing, where staff can focus their skill set on selling and marketing, as opposed to wasting time on tedious tasks such as inputting data.

However, there is still some way to go. These bots need to be taught how to behave and it is very much a work in progress.

Business Outcome Management – Data as a Service (DaaS)
The SaaS adopter base is expanding at a rate of knots, as is the volume of available data in the cloud, meaning that companies are shifting from user or transaction costing models to models that actually measure the increase in business value. Companies now want to know how their business is performing against competitors and where necessary improvements can be made. As a result, DaaS is having an ever more central role on strategy planning and this will only serve to increase in the ensuing years.

Security
Cybersecurity is front of mind for most enterprises, following the likes of WannaCry and Petya which dominated headlines in 2017. Cloud security is improving and thus, there has been a shift in the traditional thinking that on-premises enterprise systems are more secure than the cloud. People are starting to place more trust in the concept of the cloud, as the platforms become more advanced and in fact, easier to implement and manage than the on-site counterpart.

Building out enterprise architectures
A minority of companies hold a good market share in the SaaS industry, predominantly because these companies controlled closed platforms that prevented interoperability. As the technology revolution continues, these platforms are opening up, providing more opportunity for integration.

A good example of this is Microsoft’s focus to provide a platform that can be used to build solutions for customers. Imagine a futuristic SaaS model that is simply a blank canvas for users to customise as they see fit, uploading the exact software that they need from companies that they want to work with.

Integration will be a major catalyst for the growing success of SaaS, driven by robust APIs linked to integration platform ecosystems and combined with new micro-service applications. Co-marketing opportunities between complementary solutions providers will also contribute to the success.

Be ahead of the pack
We are living in the most exciting time for enterprise software we’ve seen in over a decade. Never before have we witnessed the levels of innovation and digital advancement that we are experiencing on a daily basis. This rejuvenation of enterprise technology has put it back on the map; a map which is accessible to all.

And it is those businesses that take the bull by the horns and embrace the new services economy by adopting the smart applications on offer that will set themselves apart from the competition, outperforming them in the process.

ABOUT DAN USSHER//

Dan Ussher is Unit4 ANZ Sales Director.

With recent advances in natural language processing, machine learning, and other AI technology, bots are starting to prove their worth. Yet there is a still a way to go before bots can reach their full potential, and much of that is down to our own human understanding and trust issues.

The new generation of AI is carefully designed with the end-user in mind to ensure its accessibility to workers in every industry. It meets users where they are already comfortable, conversing through common communication software such as Skype and Facebook Messenger. The software is capable of understanding user instructions without requiring certain key phrases, and most importantly, it learns from experience.

After showing these systems how a transaction should be done, how an exception should be processed, and what the user’s typical habits are, they remember – and they can apply this information to similar situations.

So – what should organisations look for when choosing to adopt a bot? Below are a few recommendations on what features make a great bot.

Multi-Threaded processing
The Alexas and Cortanas of the world do an effective job at accomplishing tasks if the tasks are presented one at a time. However, a multi-threaded version of these digital personal assistants would enable them to remember multiple situations.

Multi-thread processing would enable bots to have several conversations at the same time, despite each thread being at different stages of the process. This would be superior to what’s on offer now, and it’s evident that companies will shift towards this approach in the near future. After all, an individual’s engagement with a bot should be seamless.

AI functionality is key
Presently, the AI component of popular bots – Cortana, Alexa, Siri – has been limited by its natural language processing and basic functionality tied to fixed data. To become more successful, bots need to be proactive to ensure meaningful communication. The ability to learn user preferences and behaviour is essential to offer the right services at the right time.

As the technological evolution continues, popular consumer bots will gain further functions. The number of bots will also increase in the enterprise space as well, such as Slack, Yammer, Skype, Facebook, and Twitter.

Human customer service or bots?
According to a LivePerson report, Australians are not concerned by companies offering customer service via bots rather than humans. Yet the findings highlighted their expectations for the same or better service. The best practice is to be upfront when the customer is engaged with a chatbot. If customers are hesitant to interact with a bot, give them the option to speak with a person.

Clarify bot functionality
Bots are still new to many people. That means you need to be clear about its capabilities. Set expectations to avoid creating negative customer experiences.

Bot quality should also be tailored for customer service applications. If the bot’s response to every situation is “I don’t understand the question”, then it’s useless. Therefore, an escalation channel is required for customers to interact with a human when required.

Instead of inflaming a negative situation, bots should ideally identify negative sentiments and direct them to a customer representative. In situations like these, a lack of empathy and response can make things worse.

Expectations are that in the future, bots will be so intelligent that people won’t be able to tell the difference between a bot and a person. But we’re not there yet; even as increased adoption normalises the bots’ position as the first contact point, it is necessary to carefully consider strategy in this transitional phase.

And again – be crystal clear that customers are speaking to a bot from the outset to minimise potentially negative situations.

ABOUT DAN USSHER//

Dan is a senior executive with over 20 years’ experience. Currently ANZ Sales Director at Unit4 based in Sydney.