The 2010 CRM Service Awards: Service Leaders -- Introduction

What does service leadership look like? 

There’s no single answer, of course, but the companies listed there — two dozen of them — represent this year’s class of CRM Service Leaders, and they’re the best of the best in the CRM industry’s support and service sector. 

While retaining last year’s eight categories—contact center infrastructure, contact center search, interactive voice response, Web interaction management, Web self-service, workforce optimization suite, enterprise feedback management, and outsourcing — we have made one significant expansion to the awards: Given how critical these offerings have become to CRM and the enterprise as a whole, each category’s Winner is now joined by three Leaders instead of two. (It’s worth noting that even the runners-up in a category are still leaders in that space. We expected competition to intensify, and we were right.) 

One last note: An award — even one for service leadership — doesn’t matter very much if the company that wins it can’t serve your needs. It’s no coincidence that “service” sounds a lot like “serve us.” Always pick the vendor that’s right for you.  

The 2010 Service Leader Awards

• Contact Center Infrastructure 
  Winner: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories
  Leaders: Avaya; Cisco Systems; Interactive Intelligence
  Ones to Watch: LiveOps; Siemens Enterprise Communications

• Interactive Voice Response
  Winner: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories
  Leaders: Avaya; Intervoice (a unit of Convergys); Voxeo
  One to Watch: Cisco Systems

• Web Self-Service 
  Winner: RightNow Technologies
  Leaders: Consona; InQuira; nGenera 
  One to Watch: Parature

• Web Interaction Management 
  Winner: RightNow Technologies
  Leaders: LivePerson; nGenera; Parature
  Ones to Watch: Helpstream; Kana Software

• Enterprise Feedback Management 
  Winner: Allegiance
  Leaders: Confirmit; RightNow Technologies; Verint Systems
  One to Watch: Vovici

• Contact Center Search 
  Winner: RightNow Technologies
  Leaders: Autonomy etalk; Coveo Solutions; InQuira
  Ones to Watch: Consona; Google

• Workforce Optimization Suite 
  Winner: Verint Systems
  Leaders: Aspect Software; Envision Telephony; Nice Systems
  One to Watch: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories

• Outsourcing 
  Winner: Convergys
  Leaders: HP Enterprise Services; Sykes; Teleperformance
  Ones to Watch: Sitel; West