Vendor Landscape: Social Media Management Platforms

Transcription

1 Vendor Landscape: Social Media Management Platforms Reign in social media by choosing a management platform that s right for you., Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns Inc. 1

2 Introduction Different parts of your organization have different social media objectives. Select a Social Media Management Platform (SMMP) that satisfies your objectives across marketing, sales, public relations, HR, and customer service. This Research Is Designed For: IT managers advising the business on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of social media campaigns. IT professionals involved in evaluating, selecting, and deploying an SMMP. Sales, marketing, and customer service professionals interested in how SMMPs can improve the outcomes of social media campaigns and interactions. This Research Will Help You: Understand the features and business benefits of using an SMMP to manage social media initiatives. Determine functional requirements based on organizational needs. Understand the current state of the SMMP market, and evaluate and select an SMMP vendor that meets enterprise requirements. Implement and operate the selected platform. 2

3 Executive Summary Info-Tech evaluated ten competitors in the SMMP market, including the following notable performers: Champions: Adobe: A winner on depth and breadth of its analytics capabilities designed with marketing professionals in mind. Salesforce: Salesforce continues to show that it can handle both customer engagement and social listening in an equally adept manner. Sysomos: An all-around great product that offers excellent social monitoring, analysis, and engagement. Value Award: Sysomos: A great bang-for-buck product with an easy-to-use interface and robust analytics. Trend Setter Award: Salesforce: Salesforce continues to innovate in terms of building an open, seamless platform for customer interaction with social media as a core component. Info-Tech Insight 1. Social Media Management Platforms (SMMPs) reduce complexity and increase the results of enterprise social media initiatives. The value proposition of SMMPs revolves around enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of social media. Using an SMMP to manage social media is considerably more cost-effective than adhoc (manual) management. Prominent departments that can benefit from using an SMMP include marketing, sales, customer service, public relations, and human resources. 2. IT must partner with other departments (e.g. marketing) to successfully evaluate, select, and implement an SMMP. Before selecting an SMMP, the organization must have a solid overall strategy for leveraging social media in place. 3. The market for SMMPs is maturing fast, with monitoring and management feature sets converging. CRM vendors have also begun to enter the fray with their own social offerings. 3

4 Market overview How it got here The SMMP market was created in response to the exploding popularity of social media and the realization that it can be harnessed for a wide variety of enterprise purposes (from consumer intelligence to marketing campaigns and customer service, and HR). As the number of social media services has expanded, and as the volume of content generated via social networks has ballooned, it became increasingly difficult to mine insights and manage social campaigns. A number of vendors (mostly start-ups but some incumbent players) began offering platforms that attempted to streamline and harness social media processes. As usage of social media expanded beyond just the marketing and PR function, being able to successfully scale a social strategy to a large number of customer care and sales interactions became paramount: SMMPs filled a niche by offering large-scale response and workflow management capabilities. Where it s going The market is segmented between two broad camps: SMMPs focused on social listening and analytics, and SMMPs focused on social engagement. Although the two have begun to converge in the last year, there continues to be a clear bifurcation in the market between the two, with a surprising lack of vendors that are equally adept at both sides. Some SMMP vendors also approach the space with a focus on particular verticals (such as professional services or agencies). Eventually, CRM vendors will offer feature sets similar to those of standalone SMMPs. While some major CRM vendors (like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics) have made ground in this direction in the last year, organizations that are serious about social will still need a best of breed SMMP. Other major trends include using application integration to build a 360 degree view of the customer, workflow routing and automation, and competitive benchmarking. Don t wait for CRM vendor adoption if you have the need now, you will see an ROI on purchasing a standalone SMMP solution. In the last year, there has been a strong wave of consolidation and market exits in the SMMP space. We expect that the endgame will be coming within the next two to three years as CRM vendors continue to acquire the strongest SMMP players and build in-house social capabilities. 4

5 SMMP vendor selection / knock-out criteria: market share, mind share, and platform coverage Although there has been significant convergence between engagement and analytics-focused vendors, the market remains somewhat split between the two each vendor tends to excel more on one dimension than the other. For this Vendor Landscape, Info-Tech focused on those vendors that offer broad capabilities across multiple platforms and that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among multiple enterprise verticals and sizes. Included in this Vendor Landscape: Adobe: Adobe Social is a key pillar of Adobe s ecosystem that is heavily focused on social analytics and engagement. Attensity: A comprehensive suite of listening and engagement tools for multiple social channels. Hootsuite: A freemium player with strong engagement and collaboration tools, particularly well suited for SMBs. Lithium: An e-community heavyweight with a robust analytics offering in its Social Media Monitoring product. Oracle: An industry heavyweight, putting renewed emphasis on social integration. SAS: A top-notch player for in-depth, contextual social analytics and sentiment analysis. Salesforce: A leading solution that compromises of Radian6, BuddyMedia, and Social.com. Sprout Social: A great choice for mid-sized companies looking to provide robust social engagement and customer care. Sysomos: Their MAP and Heartbeat products offer customers in-depth analysis of a wide array of social channels. Viralheat: An excellent option for analytics, social response workflow management, and in-band social engagement. 5

6 SMMP criteria & weighting factors Product Evaluation Criteria Criteria Weighting Features Usability The solution provides basic and advanced feature/functionality. The end-user and administrative interfaces are intuitive and offer streamlined workflow. Features 40% Usability 20% 20% Affordability Affordability Architecture Implementing and operating the solution is affordable given the technology. Multiple deployment options and extensive integration capabilities are available. 20% Product 55% Architecture Vendor Evaluation Criteria Viability Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be around for the long term. 45% Strategy Vendor is committed to the space and has a future product and portfolio roadmap. Viability Vendor Reach Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell and provide post-sales support. 25% 40% Strategy Channel Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the channels themselves are strong. Channel 20% 15% Reach 6

7 The Info-Tech SMMP Vendor Landscape The zones of the Landscape Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry. Market Pillars are established players with very strong vendor credentials, but with more average product scores. Innovators have demonstrated innovative product strengths that act as their competitive advantage in appealing to niche segments of the market. Emerging Players are comparatively newer vendors who are starting to gain a foothold in the marketplace. They balance product and vendor attributes, though score lower relative to market Champions. The Info-Tech SMMP Vendor Landscape SAS Sprout Social Viralheat Hootsuite Sysomos 1234 Salesforce Adobe Lithium Attensity Oracle For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape is created, see Information Presentation Vendor Landscape in the Appendix. 7

8 Balance individual strengths to find the best fit for your enterprise Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Adobe* Attensity* Hootsuite* Lithium* Oracle* Salesforce SAS Sprout Social Sysomos Viralheat Legend =Exemplary =Good =Adequate =Inadequate =Poor *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publicly available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Harvey Balls are calculated, see Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls) in the Appendix. 8

9 The Info-Tech SMMP Value Index What is a Value Score? The Value Score indexes each vendor s product offering and business strength relative to its price point. It does not indicate vendor ranking. Champion On a relative basis, Sysomos maintained the highest Info-Tech Value Score TM of the vendor group. Vendors were indexed against Sysomos performance to provide a complete, relative view of their product offerings. Vendors that score high offer more bang-for-the-buck (e.g. features, usability, stability, etc.) than the average vendor, while the inverse is true for those that score lower. Price-conscious enterprises may wish to give the Value Score more consideration than those who are more focused on specific vendor/product attributes Average Score: *The vendor declined to provide pricing and publicly available pricing could not be found. For an explanation of how Price is determined, see Information Presentation Price Evaluation in the Appendix. For an explanation of how the Info-Tech Value Index is calculated, see Information Presentation Value Index in the Appendix. 9

10 Table Stakes represent the minimum standard; without these, a product doesn t even get reviewed The Table Stakes Feature Multiple Sites Supported Multiple Accounts Supported Basic Engagement What it is: The ability to manage or analyze at least two or more social media services. The ability to manage or analyze content from at least two or more social media accounts. The ability to post status updates to multiple social media sites. What Does This Mean? The products assessed in this Vendor Landscape TM meet, at the very least, the requirements outlined as Table Stakes. Many of the vendors go above and beyond the outlined Table Stakes, some even do so in multiple categories. This section aims to highlight the products capabilities in excess of the criteria listed here. Basic Analytics The ability to display inbound feeds and summary info from multiple social media sites. If Table Stakes are all you need from your SMMP solution, the only true differentiator for the organization is price. Otherwise, dig deeper to find the best price to value for your needs. 10

11 Advanced Features are the capabilities that allow for more granular market differentiation Scoring Methodology Info-Tech scored each vendor s features offering as a summation of its individual scores across the listed advanced features. Vendors were given one point for each feature the product inherently provided. Some categories were scored on a more granular scale with vendors receiving half points. Advanced Features Feature Channel Integration: Inbound Channel Integration: Outbound Advanced Analytics Response Management Campaign Execution Workflow Management Account Management Social Archival Mobile Support Application Integration What we looked for: Ability to monitor social media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more. Ability to publish to social media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more. Ability to uncover insights from social media using various techniques such as sentiment analysis. Ability to respond in-band to social media posts. Ability to manage social and media assets: tools for social campaign execution, reporting, and analytics. Ability to create end-to-end routing and escalation workflows from social content. Ability to balance multiple social account/persona management with individual user profiles. Ability to archive social posts and platform activity to create an audit trail. Ability to provide mobile optimized, HTML5-based web access and/or native applications. Deep CRM/CSM integration with out-of-the-box connectors for popular suites. For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stoplights) in the Appendix. 11

12 Each vendor offers a different feature set; concentrate on what your organization needs Evaluated Feature Sets Channel Integration Inbound Channel Integration Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Execution Social Workflow Centralized Account Social Archival Mobile Support Integration Capabilities Adobe Attensity Hootsuite Lithium Oracle Salesforce SAS Sprout Social Sysomos Viralheat Legend =Feature fully present =Feature partially present/pending =Feature absent For an explanation of how Advanced Features are determined, see Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stoplights) in the Appendix. 12

13 If listening to your customers is your top priority, these vendors should be on your shortlist If you need to quickly and easily respond in-platform to multiple social contacts, these are your best picks. 1 Social Response Management 2 3 Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use cases come to the forefront. Whether those use cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Exemplary Performers Sprout Social was designed with engagement and customer service organizations in mind. Its unique benchmarking capability is helpful for comparing internal service metrics (like resolution times) to other organizations. Hootsuite has good response capabilities backed up by a strong team collaboration feature set. It offers simplified cross-platform posting and post-time optimization capabilities. SFDC has effectively utilized its acquisitions of Buddy Media, Radian6, and ExactTarget to build a social marketing juggernaut. Its response workflows are top-notch while also being one of the best vendors for analytics. For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 13

14 Social engagement-minded companies will want to partner with these vendors to exceed customer expectations If you re looking to forgo in-depth monitoring for social campaigns and property management, these vendors will help you get there. 1 2 Best-of-Breed Social Analytics 3 Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use cases come to the forefront. Whether those use cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Exemplary Performers Adobe Social is a great choice for digital marketers that need in-depth sentiment and longitudinal analysis of social data particularly when managing social alongside other digital channels. Sysomos MAP and Heartbeat are great offerings for conducting social media health checks using in-depth contextual analytics. Attensity s strong history in text analytics and NLP mean that it s a good choice for executing your social analytics strategy. For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. 14

15 Organizations that place an emphasis on application integration to build a 360 customer view : look no further These vendors provide strong connectors to other apps found in the customer interaction ecosystem Application Integration Why Scenarios? In reviewing the products included in each Vendor Landscape TM, certain use cases come to the forefront. Whether those use cases are defined by applicability in certain locations, relevance for certain industries, or as strengths in delivering a specific capability, Info- Tech recognizes those use cases as Scenarios, and calls attention to them where they exist. Exemplary Performers Salesforce is already a CRM titan with its Sales Cloud and Service Cloud offerings its social media integration with these products and Marketing Cloud make it well-positioned for providing an integrated customer view. Viralheat has upped its game in the integration space, particularly for cloud-to-cloud integrations. It counts ZenDesk, SFDC, and Marketo among its partners. As one of the most well-known names in social media management, Hootsuite has a large catalog of partners in its App Store. For an explanation of how Scenarios are determined, see Information Presentation Scenarios in the Appendix. Vendor Landscape : Social Media Management Platforms 15

16 Adobe Social is a powerhouse for digital marketers, with extremely well-developed analytics capabilities Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Adobe Marketing Cloud 10,000+ San Jose, CA adobe.com 1982 NASDAQ: ADBE FY11 Revenue: $US 4.21B The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found $1 $2.5M+ Overview Adobe Social is a strong offering included within the broader Adobe Marketing Cloud. The product is tightly focused on social analytics and social campaign execution. It s particularly wellsuited to digital marketers. Strengths Real-time social analytics are a core competency of the suite. Adobe has put significant investment into developing the contextual analytics capabilities of the product: market researchers, brand managers, and digital strategists will find the suite s data-driven toolset to be extremely useful. It boasts great archiving capabilities (up to 7 years for outbound posts), meeting the needs of compliance-centric organizations and providing for strong longitudinal analysis capabilities. Challenges The product plays well with the rest of the Adobe Marketing Cloud, but the list of third-party CRM and CSM integrations is shorter than some other players in the market. While the product is unsurprisingly geared towards marketers, organizations that want a scalable platform for customer service or sales use cases will need to augment the product due to its focus on analytics service-related workflow and automation capabilities are not the best we ve seen. 16

17 Adobe Social excels at analytics and campaign execution: a natural fit for digital marketing professionals Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Social Media Services Supported: Outbound (Engagement) Value Index N/A The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found Blogs *Not exhaustive *Not exhaustive Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Adobe Social provides impressive features, especially for companies that position social media within a larger digital marketing strategy. Organizations that need powerful analytics should have Adobe in their shortlist, though the product may be an overbuy for engagement-oriented use cases. 17

18 Salesforce Marketing Cloud continues to be a Cadillac solution; it s a robust platform with a host of features Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud 13, 000 San Francisco, CA Salesforcemarketingcloud.com 1999 NASDAQ: CRM: US FY14 Revenue: $US 4.1B 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 7, between $250,000 and $500,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor. Overview Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a powerful solution fuelled by Salesforce s savvy acquisitions, the most recent being ExactTarget. The ExactTarget purchase has further strengthened the platform s marketing capabilities and solidified its performance as a best-of-breed social engagement and campaign management platform. Strengths Salesforce continues to excel as one of the best SMMP vendors in terms of balancing inbound analytics and outbound engagement. The Radian6 console provides a significant set of deep analytics tools while the Buddy Media and ExactTarget components handle campaign management and outbound engagement extremely well. Salesforce s integration of Marketing Cloud with its Sales and Service Clouds also creates a good 360-degree customer view. Challenges Salesforce s broad and deep feature set comes at a premium: the solution is priced materially higher than many other vendors. Before you consider Marketing Cloud, it s important to evaluate which social media capabilities you want to develop: if you only need basic response workflows or dashboard-level analytics, purchasing Marketing Cloud runs the risk of overbuying. In part due to its price point and market focus, Marketing Cloud is more suited to enterprise use cases than SMB use cases. 18

19 Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides end-to-end coverage for social listening and analytics, customer engagement, and campaign management Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Consumer Reviews Value Index 12 5 out of 10 Blogs *Not exhaustive Features Blogs Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Salesforce Marketing Cloud remains a leading solution. Organizations that need to blend processes across the enterprise that rely on deep analytics and engagement should have Marketing Cloud in their shortlist. However, companies with more basic needs may be off-put by the solution s price point. 19

20 Sysomos prime feature is its hardy analytics built atop a plethora of inbound social channels Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Sysomos MAP and Heartbeat 30+ Toronto, ON Sysomos.com 2007 Privately held 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 4, between $25,000 and $50,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor. Overview Sysomos, a Marketwire company, began life as a project at the University of Toronto prior to its acquisition. The company focuses on providing tools for social monitoring, analysis, and engagement. Strengths MAP and Heartbeat offer extensive contextual and sentiment analytics, consolidating findings through a spam-filtering process that parses out a lot of the noise inherent in social media data. Sysomos is a strong choice for data-oriented social media use cases. The solution provides an unlimited number of profiles, enabling more opportunities for collaboration. It provides managers with workflow summaries, documenting the actions of the staff rather than just social activity. Challenges Sysomos outbound capabilities continue to lag, and there are currently no tools for social campaign tracking and asset management. Customer service and sales engagement use cases are not as scalable with Sysomos vis-à-vis engagementfocused vendors. Options for access via native mobile apps are unavailable at present (although mobile browser access is available). Sysomos application integration stack is limited relative to many other vendors. 20

21 Sysomos keystone feature is its hardy analytics built on top of a plethora of inbound social channels from which it draws data Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Value Index Blogs out of 10 Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Sysomos broad array of generally good features has made it a frequent challenger to Marketing Cloud on enterprise SMMP evaluation shortlists. Enterprise-scale customers specifically interested in analytics and listening, rather than engagement and campaign execution, will definitely want to take a look. 21

22 Hootsuite is a capable vendor that offers an extremely flexible solution for monitoring many different social media services Market Pillar Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Hootsuite Enterprise, Hootsuite 270 Vancouver, BC Hootsuite.com 2008 Privately held The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found $1 $2.5M+ Overview In the past, Hootsuite worked on the freemium model by providing basic social account management features. The company has since expanded its offering and put a strong focus on enterprise feature sets, such as collaboration and workflow management. Strengths Hootsuite is extremely easy to use, having one of the most straightforward interfaces of vendors evaluated. The product provides a comprehensive model for team-based collaboration and workflow management internal collaboration features make handling social posts easy, as shown through nice cross-posting and post-time optimization capabilities. It has extensive monitoring capabilities for a wide variety of sources (plug-ins can be purchased from its app store). It has partnerships with SFDC, ZenDesk, and Nimble CRM. Challenges Hootsuite skews more to the engagement side of the spectrum; its reporting and analytics capabilities are relatively basic, particularly when contrasted with more analytics-focused vendors in the market. Hootsuite currently lacks tools for social asset management and campaign tracking. Reporting and auditing capabilities are anemic, which make it a weaker pick for compliance-oriented organizations. 22

23 Hootsuite s tenure in the market and well-rounded feature set make it a good choice for SMBs Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Social Media Services Supported: Outbound (Engagement) Blogs Value Index N/A The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found for Enterprise edition Blogs *Not exhaustive Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: The free version of Hootsuite is useful for getting your feet wet with social management. The paid version is a great SMMP for monitoring and engaging your own social properties with good account and team management at an affordable price. This makes it ideal for SMBs. However, organizations that need deep social analytics may want to look elsewhere. 23

24 Oracle is a heavyweight in enterprise software, but it s currently playing catch-up in the social media space Market Pillar Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Oracle Social Cloud: Social Relationship Management 122,500 Redwood City, California Oracle.com 1977 NYSE: ORCL: US FY 13 Revenue: $ 10.9B US The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found $1 $2.5M+ Overview Oracle is one of the world s largest providers of enterprise software. It has a stake in social relationship management with its Engagement and Monitoring Cloud service and Social Marketing products, which it has recently begun to more heavily promote. Strengths Oracle has made deep investments in many core listening and analytics technologies which are embedded in its SRM offerings, such as latent semantic analysis. Oracle SRM is well integrated with other parts of the Oracle ecosystem, particularly Oracle CX applications, such as Oracle Marketing Cloud. The user experience of Oracle SRM is intuitive, and the platform supports querying functionality, such as advanced language search. Challenges Outbound response and campaign management functionality, while present, is somewhat anemic in scope. Oracle s focus on social media as an interaction channel has historically been weak while the company has placed renewed emphasis on its SRM portfolio, the industry giant still risks being outpaced by smaller, more maneuverable vendors and CRMfocused companies, such as Salesforce. Not surprisingly, Oracle SRM carries a risk of overbuying for SMBs (and even larger companies with simplistic needs). 24

25 Oracle is best at analytics, but response management and third party integration are not its strong points Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Social Media Services Supported: Outbound (Engagement) Value Index N/A The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found Blogs Blogs Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: If you re heavily invested in the Oracle ecosystem, its SRM products offer an attractive add-on. It s also a good shortlist candidate for analytics-focused use cases. However, be aware that application integration outside of Oracle will be a challenge if you need 360-degree customer views with MS or SFDC CRM. 25

26 Sprout Social provides small-to-medium enterprises with robust social response capabilities at a reasonable price Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Sprout Social 120 Chicago, IL Sproutsocial.com 2010 Privately held 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 5, between $50,000 and $100,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor Overview Sprout Social has built out its enterprise capabilities over the last several years. It offers strong feature sets for account management, social monitoring and analytics, and engagement it particularly excels at the latter. Strengths Sprout s unified inbox and response management features (such as routing and CSM integration) are some of the most intuitive we ve seen: this makes it a natural winner for providing customer service via social channels. Sprout Social is well positioned for SMBs because it offers social engagement benchmarking against competitors and easy-to-understand reports. Sprout Social is priced competitively in relation to other vendors. Challenges Some monitoring features are absent, such as the ability to conduct cloud-wide sentiment analysis. Deep contextual analysis is lacking: the solution clearly falls more to the engagement side of the spectrum, and is particularly suited for social customer service. Given the focus on outbound client engagement, Sprout may not be ideal for companies with high regulatory compliance and archival requirements. It still has a predominantly North American market focus. 26

27 Sprout Social is particularly well-suited to social engagement, especially in the social customer care use case Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Value Index 94 2 out of 10 Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Sprout Social s easy-to-understand benchmarking and dashboards, paired with strong response management, make it a great choice for mid-sized enterprises concerned with social engagement. However, organizations that want to do deep social analytics will need to augment the solution. 27

28 Viralheat offers a clean analysis of an organization s social media activity and has beefed up response workflows Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Viralheat 22 San Mateo, CA viralheat.com 2009 Privately held 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 6, between $100,000 and $250,000 Overview Viralheat has been in the social media market since It provides tools for analytics and in-band social engagement. The firm has received Series-A funding from Mayfield and has an impressive and growing client list. Strengths Viralheat has made significant strides in the last year and has robust workflow management capabilities for social response. It caters to the needs of highly collaborative teams via rich project management functionality and its Smart Streams, which enable entire teams to publish and engage at scale on any platform using one or more accounts connected to the system. It has undertaken great effort to increase its CRM/CSM integrations (e.g. SFDC, Marketo, Sugar CRM, ZenDesk, Desk.com, Google Analytics, and Omniture). Challenges It currently offers a native ios application, but at this time there is no native Android application for accessing the platform. Viralheat remains a smaller vendor in the market its list of channel partners lags behind larger incumbents. $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor 28

29 Viralheat s inbound support and beefed-up response and routing capabilities make it an affordable yet versatile tool Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Websites Value Index Blogs 78 3 out of 10 Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Viralheat has upped its game in terms of social workflow management and it monitors an above-average number of services. It s a strong tool for brands that are interested in outbound customer engagement for marketing and customer service use cases. 29

30 SAS scores top marks on analytics, but those who need indepth outbound response will need to augment the solution Innovator Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: SAS Social Media Analytics 10, Cary, NC sas.com 1976 Privately held 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 6, between $100,000 and $250,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing provided by vendor Overview SAS has been a long-standing player in a number of datacrunching and business intelligence markets, but it is new to the SMMP market. The company keeps this tradition alive with SAS Social Media Analytics, a product strongly focused on crunching social data to aid marketing and operational decision makers. Strengths SAS continues to be an industry leader when it comes to providing comprehensive, contextual analytics. Its capabilities for category management via predictive analytics and yearover-year management are top-notch. Organizations that use SAS applications for other business intelligence use cases will find the Social Media Analytics user experience to be consistent and familiar with other applications in SAS portfolio. Challenges Its heavy focus on inbound analytics is to the detriment of its social outbound publishing (Conversation Center only offers outbound for Twitter and Facebook). Other engagement features, such as campaign management and response escalation, are lacking as well. The dashboard navigation is catered towards the needs of advanced users less data-savvy employees will need additional training in order to properly utilize the tools provided. 30

31 SAS Social Analytics offers best-of-breed social listening for companies that need to make decisions using social data Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Value Index 57 4 out of 10 Blogs Consumer Review Sites Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Organizations that need uncompromising depth on social analytics (and don t mind paying for it) will definitely want to include SAS on their SMMP shortlist. Existing users of SAS BI and marketing products will also want to shortlist SAS Social Media Analytics to extend their reach into social channels. 31

32 Lithium provides comprehensive analytics that play well with the rest of its e-community management portfolio Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Lithium Social Media Web, Lithium Social Insights 400+ San Francisco, CA Lithium.com 2001 Privately held The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found $1 $2.5M+ Overview Lithium is a strong player in the e-community (e.g. discussion forum) space. It has entered the consumer space with the March 2014 acquisition of Klout, a pioneer in using big data to measure online influence. Strengths Integration with Lithium s world class community management products is a significant benefit to customers of the rest of the Lithium product line. The breadth of social media services Lithium monitors is impressive, making it ideal for organizations that wish to conduct social analytics on services beyond table stakes, such as Facebook and Twitter. It is a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer and has joined the Twitter Certified Products Program. Challenges Outbound social integrations are lacking vis-à-vis many competitors, and the list of non-lithium integrations while present is short. No dedicated mobile apps (for the social media management feature set) are present. 32

33 Lithium provides comprehensive analytics that play well with the rest of its e-community management portfolio Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Social Media Services Supported: Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Outbound (Engagement) Value Index N/A The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found Blogs Consumer Review Sites Lithium Communities Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: Lithium provides a comprehensive set of features through an intuitive interface. Its vendor credentials and capabilities in the customer forum space make it especially attractive to companies that need to manage both internal forums and external social media communities. 33

34 Attensity may not have the vendor footprint of other players, but its core technology impresses Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Attensity Pipeline, Analyze and Respond N/A Palo Alto, CA attensity.com 2000 Privately held The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found $1 $2.5M+ Overview Attensity was founded in 2000 as a customer engagement and analytics company. With its Pipeline, Analyze and Respond products, it currently provides end-to-end capabilities for social media management. Strengths Attensity has put a lot of investment into its core natural language processing technologies and sentiment analysis, as well as extracting context from social media data. The segmentation of Pipeline and Analyze is a unique twist that allows organizations to filter and extract data in a dedicated solution, while running more sophisticated analysis in another. Attensity has strong inbound capabilities in terms of the number of social media services that can be monitored. Challenges Only the Analyze product has a mobile client for ipad there are no native applications for the response functionality on ios or Android. While Attensity maintains an open API, the list of native connectors available for out-of-the-box integration to other sales and marketing solutions is shorter than other vendors. With a background in text analytics, Attensity s vendor footprint and reach is smaller than larger CRM-focused incumbents. 34

35 Attensity provides a well-rounded feature set, though it is best for sentiment and context-heavy social analytics Vendor Landscape Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Inbound (Listening/Analytics) Social Media Services Supported: Outbound (Engagement) Value Index N/A The vendor declined to provide pricing, and publicly available pricing could not be found Consumer Review Sites Blogs Attensity Communities Features Inbound Outbound Analytics Response Campaign Workflow Account Archival Mobile App Info-Tech Recommends: If your organization needs in-depth social intake and analytics paired with low-to-mid volume response capabilities, Attensity is a good bet. However, if you need to integrate your social media platform out-ofthe-box with other customer engagement systems, be aware you will have some additional legwork to do. 35

36 Identify leading candidates with the SMMP Vendor Shortlist and Detailed Feature Analysis Tool Info-Tech s Social Media Management Platform Vendor Shortlist and Detailed Feature Analysis Tool is designed to generate a customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities. This tool offers the ability to modify: Overall Vendor vs. Product Weightings Individual product criteria weightings: Features Usability Affordability Architecture Individual vendor criteria weightings: Viability Strategy Reach Channel 36

37 Issue an RFP to ensure that the vendor fits your needs, rather than the other way around Use Info-Tech s Social Media Management Platform RFP Template to conduct this critical step in your vendor selection process. Info-Tech s SMMP RFP Template is populated with critical elements, including: The Statement of Work Proposal Preparation Instructions Scope of Work Basic Feature Requirements Advanced Feature Requirements Sizing and Implementation Vendor Qualifications and References Budget and Estimated Pricing Vendor Certification 37

38 Take charge of vendor finalist demos with a Vendor Demonstration Script A product demo, using Info-Tech s Social Media Management Platform Demonstration Script, helps enterprise decision makers better understand the capabilities and constraints of various solutions. The Social Media Management Platform Demonstration Script will: Provide vendors with a consistent set of instructions for key scenarios from the perspective of IT and departmental managers. Outline solution capabilities and processes around: o Social media monitoring o Social property monitoring o Social campaign engagement o Platform architecture o Mobile access 38

39 Appendix 1. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Overview 2. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Product Selection & Information Gathering 3. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring 4. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation 5. Vendor Landscape Methodology: Fact Check & Publication 6. Product Pricing Scenario 39

40 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Overview Info-Tech s Vendor Landscapes are research materials that review a particular IT market space, evaluating the strengths and abilities of both the products available in that space, as well as the vendors of those products. These materials are created by a team of dedicated analysts operating under the direction of a senior subject matter expert over a period of six weeks. Evaluations weigh selected vendors and their products (collectively solutions ) on the following eight criteria to determine overall standing: Features: The presence of advanced and market-differentiating capabilities. Usability: The intuitiveness, power, and integrated nature of administrative consoles and client software components. Affordability: The three-year total cost of ownership of the solution. Architecture: The degree of integration with the vendor s other tools, flexibility of deployment, and breadth of platform applicability. Viability: The stability of the company as measured by its history in the market, the size of its client base, and its financial performance. Strategy: The commitment to both the market-space, as well as to the various sized clients (small, mid-sized, and enterprise clients). Reach: The ability of the vendor to support its products on a global scale. Channel: The measure of the size of the vendor s channel partner program, as well as any channel strengthening strategies. Evaluated solutions are plotted on a standard two by two matrix: Champions: Both the product and the vendor receive scores that are above the average score for the evaluated group. Innovators: The product receives a score that is above the average score for the evaluated group, but the vendor receives a score that is below the average score for the evaluated group. Market Pillars: The product receives a score that is below the average score for the evaluated group, but the vendor receives a score that is above the average score for the evaluated group. Emerging Players: Both the product and the vendor receive scores that are below the average score for the evaluated group. Info-Tech s Vendor Landscapes are researched and produced according to a strictly adhered to process that includes the following steps: Vendor/product selection Information gathering Vendor/product scoring Information presentation Fact checking Publication This document outlines how each of these steps is conducted. 40

41 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Vendor/Product Selection & Information Gathering Info-Tech works closely with its client base to solicit guidance in terms of understanding the vendors with whom clients wish to work and the products that they wish evaluated; this demand pool forms the basis of the vendor selection process for Vendor Landscapes. Balancing this demand, Info-Tech also relies upon the deep subject matter expertise and market awareness of its Senior, Lead, and Principle Research Analysts to ensure that appropriate solutions are included in the evaluation. As an aspect of that expertise and awareness, Info-Tech s analysts may, at their discretion, determine the specific capabilities that are required of the products under evaluation, and include in the Vendor Landscape only those solutions that meet all specified requirements. Information on vendors and products is gathered in a number of ways via a number of channels. Initially, a request package is submitted to vendors to solicit information on a broad range of topics. The request package includes: A detailed survey. A pricing scenario (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Price Evaluation and Pricing Scenario, below). A request for reference clients. A request for a briefing and, where applicable, guided product demonstration. These request packages are distributed approximately twelve weeks prior to the initiation of the actual research project to allow vendors ample time to consolidate the required information and schedule appropriate resources. During the course of the research project, briefings and demonstrations are scheduled (generally for one hour each session, though more time is scheduled as required) to allow the analyst team to discuss the information provided in the survey, validate vendor claims, and gain direct exposure to the evaluated products. Additionally, an end-user survey is circulated to Info-Tech s client base and vendor-supplied reference accounts are interviewed to solicit their feedback on their experiences with the evaluated solutions and with the vendors of those solutions. These materials are supplemented by a thorough review of all product briefs, technical manuals, and publicly available marketing materials about the product, as well as about the vendor itself. Refusal by a vendor to supply completed surveys or submit to participation in briefings and demonstrations does not eliminate a vendor from inclusion in the evaluation. Where analyst and client input has determined that a vendor belongs in a particular evaluation, it will be evaluated as best as possible based on publicly available materials only. As these materials are not as comprehensive as a survey, briefing, and demonstration, the possibility exists that the evaluation may not be as thorough or accurate. Since Info-Tech includes vendors regardless of vendor participation, it is always in the vendor s best interest to participate fully. All information is recorded and catalogued, as required, to facilitate scoring and for future reference. 41

42 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring Once all information has been gathered and evaluated for all vendors and products, the analyst team moves to scoring. All scoring is performed at the same time so as to ensure as much consistency as possible. Each criterion is scored on a ten point scale, though the manner of scoring for criteria differs slightly: Features is scored via Cumulative Scoring Affordability is scored via Scalar Scoring All other criteria are scored via Base5 Scoring In Cumulative Scoring, a single point is assigned to each evaluated feature that is regarded as being fully present, partial points to each feature that is partially present, and zero points to features that are deemed to be absent or unsatisfactory. The assigned points are summed and normalized to a value out of ten. For example, if a particular Vendor Landscape evaluates eight specific features in the Feature Criteria, the summed score out of eight for each evaluated product would be multiplied by 1.25 to yield a value out of ten. In Scalar Scoring, a score of ten is assigned to the lowest cost solution, and a score of one is assigned to the highest cost solution. All other solutions are assigned a mathematically determined score based on their proximity to / distance from these two endpoints. For example, in an evaluation of three solutions, where the middle cost solution is closer to the low end of the pricing scale it will receive a higher score, and where it is closer to the high end of the pricing scale it will receive a lower score; depending on proximity to the high or low price it is entirely possible that it could receive either ten points (if it is very close to the lowest price) or one point (if it is very close to the highest price). Where pricing cannot be determined (vendor does not supply price and public sources do not exist), a score of 0 is automatically assigned. In Base5 scoring a number of sub-criteria are specified for each criterion (for example, Longevity, Market Presence, and Financials are subcriteria of the Viability criterion), and each one is scored on the following scale: 5 - The product/vendor is exemplary in this area (nothing could be done to improve the status). 4 - The product/vendor is good in this area (small changes could be made that would move things to the next level). 3 - The product/vendor is adequate in this area (small changes would make it good, more significant changes required to be exemplary). 2 - The product/vendor is poor in this area (this is a notable weakness and significant work is required). 1 - The product/vendor is terrible/fails in this area (this is a glaring oversight and a serious impediment to adoption). The assigned points are summed and normalized to a value out of ten as explained in Cumulative Scoring above. Scores out of ten, known as Raw scores, are transposed as-is into Info-Tech s Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool, which automatically determines Vendor Landscape positioning (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Vendor Landscape, below), Criteria Score (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Criteria Score, below), and Value Index (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Value Index, below). 42

43 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Vendor Landscape Info-Tech s Vendor Landscape is a two-by-two matrix that plots solutions based on the combination of Product score and Vendor score. Placement is not determined by absolute score, but instead by relative score. Relative scores are used to ensure a consistent view of information and to minimize dispersion in nascent markets, while enhancing dispersion in commodity markets to allow for quick visual analysis by clients. Relative scores are calculated as follows: 1. Raw scores are transposed into the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool (for information on how Raw scores are determined, see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring, above). 2. Each individual criterion Raw score is multiplied by the pre-assigned weighting factor for the Vendor Landscape in question. Weighting factors are determined prior to the evaluation process to eliminate any possibility of bias. Weighting factors are expressed as a percentage such that the sum of the weighting factors for the Vendor criteria (Viability, Strategy, Reach, Channel) is 100% and the sum of the Product criteria (Features, Usability, Affordability, Architecture) is 100%. 3. A sum-product of the weighted Vendor criteria scores and of the weighted Product criteria scores is calculated to yield an overall Vendor score and an overall Product score. 4. Overall Vendor scores are then normalized to a 20 point scale by calculating the arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the pool of Vendor scores. Vendors for whom their overall Vendor score is higher than the arithmetic mean will receive a normalized Vendor score of (exact value determined by how much higher than the arithmetic mean their overall Vendor score is), while vendors for whom their overall Vendor score is lower than the arithmetic mean will receive a normalized Vendor score of between one and ten (exact value determined by how much lower than the arithmetic mean their overall Vendor score is). 5. Overall Product score is normalized to a 20 point scale according to the same process. 6. Normalized scores are plotted on the matrix, with Vendor score being used as the x-axis, and Product score being used as the y-axis. Innovators: solutions with below average Vendor scores and above average Product scores. Emerging Players: solutions with below average Vendor scores and below average Product scores. Vendor Landscape Champions: solutions with above average Vendor scores and above average Product scores. Market Pillars: solutions with above average Vendor scores and below average Product scores. 43

44 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Criteria Scores (Harvey Balls) Info-Tech s criteria scores are visual representations of the absolute score assigned to each individual criterion, as well as of the calculated overall vendor and product scores. The visual representation used is Harvey Balls. Harvey Balls are calculated as follows: 1. Raw scores are transposed into the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape Shortlist Tool (for information on how raw scores are determined, see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring, above). 2. Each individual criterion raw score is multiplied by a pre-assigned weighting factor for the Vendor Landscape in question. Weighting factors are determined prior to the evaluation process, based on the expertise of the Senior or Lead Research Analyst, to eliminate any possibility of bias. Weighting factors are expressed as a percentage, such that the sum of the weighting factors for the vendor criteria (Viability, Strategy, Reach, Channel) is 100%, and the sum of the product criteria (Features, Usability, Affordability, Architecture) is 100%. 3. A sum-product of the weighted vendor criteria scores and of the weighted product criteria scores is calculated to yield an overall vendor score and an overall product score. 4. Both overall vendor score / overall product score, as well as individual criterion raw scores are converted from a scale of one to ten to Harvey Ball scores on a scale of zero to four, where exceptional performance results in a score of four and poor performance results in a score of zero. 5. Harvey Ball scores are converted to Harvey Balls as follows: A score of four becomes a full Harvey Ball. A score of three becomes a three-quarter full Harvey Ball. A score of two becomes a half-full Harvey Ball. A score of one becomes a one-quarter full Harvey Ball. A score of zero becomes an empty Harvey Ball. 6. Harvey Balls are plotted by solution in a chart where rows represent individual solutions and columns represent overall vendor / overall product, as well as individual criteria. Solutions are ordered in the chart alphabetically by vendor name. Overall Harvey Balls represent weighted aggregates. Harvey Balls Product Vendor Overall Features Usability Afford. Arch. Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Criteria Harvey Balls represent individual raw scores. 44

45 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Feature Ranks (Stoplights) Info-Tech s Feature Ranks are visual representations of the presence/availability of individual features that collectively comprise the Features criteria. The visual representation used is stoplights. Stoplights are determined as follows: 1. A single point is assigned to each evaluated feature that is regarded as being fully present, partial points to each feature that is partially present, and zero points to features that are deemed to be fully absent or unsatisfactory. Fully present means all aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence. Fully absent means all aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are missing or lacking. Partially present means some, but not all, aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence, OR all aspects and capabilities of the feature as described are in evidence, but only for some models in a line. 2. Feature scores are converted to stoplights as follows: Full points become a green light. Partial points become a yellow light. Zero points become a red light. 3. Stoplights are plotted by solution in a chart where rows represent individual solutions and columns represent individual features. Solutions are ordered in the chart alphabetically by vendor name. For example, a set of applications is being reviewed and a feature of Integration with Mobile Devices that is defined as availability of dedicated mobile device applications for ios, Android, and BlackBerry devices is specified. Solution A provides such apps for all listed platforms and scores green, solution B provides apps for ios and Android only and scores yellow, while solution C provides mobile device functionality through browser extensions, has no dedicated apps, and so scores red. Stoplights Green means a feature is fully present; red, fully absent. Features Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Feature 4 Feature 5 Feature 6 Feature 7 Feature 8 Yellow shows partial availability (such as in some models in a line). 45

46 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Value Index Info-Tech s Value Index is an indexed ranking of solution value per dollar as determined by the raw scores assigned to each criteria (for information on how raw scores are determined, see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Scoring, above). Value scores are calculated as follows: 1. The Affordability criterion is removed from the overall product score and the remaining product score criteria (Features, Usability, Architecture) are reweighted so as to retain the same weightings relative to one another, while still summing to 100%. For example, if all four product criteria were assigned base weightings of 25%, for the determination of the Value Score, Features, Usability, and Architecture would be reweighted to 33.3% each to retain the same relative weightings while still summing to 100%. 2. A sum-product of the weighted vendor criteria scores and of the reweighted product criteria scores is calculated to yield an overall vendor score and a reweighted overall Product score. 3. The overall vendor score and the reweighted overall product score are then summed, and this sum is multiplied by the Affordability raw score to yield an interim Value Score for each solution. 4. All interim Value Scores are then indexed to the highest performing solution by dividing each interim Value Score by the highest interim Value Score. This results in a Value Score of 100 for the top solution and an indexed Value Score relative to the 100 for each alternate solution. 5. Solutions are plotted according to Value Score, with the highest score plotted first, and all remaining scores plotted in descending numerical order. Where pricing is not provided by the vendor and public sources of information cannot be found, an Affordability raw score of zero is assigned. Since multiplication by zero results in a product of zero, those solutions for which pricing cannot be determined receive a Value Score of zero. Since Info-Tech assigns a score of zero where pricing is not available, it is always in the vendor s best interest to provide accurate and up to date pricing. In the event that insufficient pricing is available to accurately calculate a Value Index, Info-Tech will omit it from the Vendor Landscape. Value Index Vendors are arranged in order of Value Score. The Value Score each solution achieved is displayed, and so is the average score. 100 A 80 B 40 C Average Score: Those solutions that are ranked as Champions are differentiated for point of reference. D 10 E 46

47 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Price Evaluation: Mid-Market Info-Tech s Price Evaluation is a tiered representation of the three-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a proposed solution. Info-Tech uses this method of communicating pricing information to provide high-level budgetary guidance to its end-user clients while respecting the privacy of the vendors with whom it works. The solution TCO is calculated and then represented as belonging to one of ten pricing tiers. Pricing tiers are as follows: 1. Between $1 and $2, Between $2,500 and $10, Between $10,000 and $25, Between $25,000 and $50, Between $50,000 and $100, Between $100,000 and $250, Between $250,000 and $500, Between $500,000 and $1,000, Between $1,000,000 and $2,500, Greater than $2,500,000 Where pricing is not provided, Info-Tech makes use of publicly available sources of information to determine a price. As these sources are not official price lists, the possibility exists that they may be inaccurate or outdated, and so the source of the pricing information is provided. Since Info-Tech publishes pricing information regardless of vendor participation, it is always in the vendor s best interest to supply accurate and up to date information. Info-Tech s Price Evaluations are based on pre-defined pricing scenarios (see Product Pricing Scenario, below) to ensure a comparison that is as close as possible between evaluated solutions. Pricing scenarios describe a sample business and solicit guidance as to the appropriate product/service mix required to deliver the specified functionality, the list price for those tools/services, as well as three full years of maintenance and support. Price Evaluation Call-out bubble indicates within which price tier the three-year TCO for the solution falls, provides the brackets of that price tier, and links to the graphical representation. 3 year TCO for this solution falls into pricing tier 6, between $100,000 and $250,000 $1 $2.5M+ Pricing solicited from public sources Scale along the bottom indicates that the graphic as a whole represents a price scale with a range of $1 to $2.5M+, while the notation indicates whether the pricing was supplied by the vendor or derived from public sources. 47

48 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Scenarios Info-Tech s Scenarios highlight specific use cases for the evaluated solution to provide as complete (when taken in conjunction with the individual written review, Vendor Landscape, Criteria Scores, Feature Ranks, and Value Index) a basis for comparison by end-user clients as possible. Scenarios are designed to reflect tiered capability in a particular set of circumstances. Determination of the Scenarios in question is at the discretion of the analyst team assigned to the research project. Where possible, Scenarios are designed to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, or at the very least, hierarchical such that the tiers within the Scenario represent a progressively greater or broader capability. Scenario ranking is determined as follows: 1. The analyst team determines an appropriate use case. For example: Clients that have multinational presence and require vendors to provide four-hour onsite support. 2. The analyst team establishes the various tiers of capability. For example: Presence in Americas Presence in EMEA Presence in APAC 3. The analyst team reviews all evaluated solutions and determines which ones meet which tiers of capability. For example: Presence in Americas Presence in EMEA Presence in APAC Vendor A, Vendor C, Vendor E Vendor A, Vendor B, Vendor C Vendor B, Vendor D, Vendor E 4. Solutions are plotted on a grid alphabetically by vendor by tier. Where one vendor is deemed to be stronger in a tier than other vendors in the same tier, they may be plotted non-alphabetically. For example: Vendor C is able to provide four-hour onsite support to 12 countries in EMEA while Vendors A and B are only able to provide four-hour onsite support to eight countries in EMEA; Vendor C would be plotted first, followed by Vendor A, then Vendor B. Analysts may also elect to list only the most Exemplary Performers for a given use case. One to three vendors will appear for each of these purchasing scenarios with a brief explanation as to why we selected them as top-of-class. 48

49 Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Vendor Awards At the conclusion of all analyses, Info-Tech presents awards to exceptional solutions in three distinct categories. Award presentation is discretionary; not all awards are extended subsequent to each Vendor Landscape and it is entirely possible, though unlikely, that no awards may be presented. Awards categories are as follows: Champion Awards are presented to those solutions, and only those solutions, that land in the Champion zone of the Info-Tech Vendor Landscape (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation - Vendor Landscape, above). If no solutions land in the Champion zone, no Champion Awards are presented. Similarly, if multiple solutions land in the Champion zone, multiple Champion Awards are presented. Trend Setter Awards are presented to those solutions, and only those solutions, that are deemed to include the most original/inventive product/service, or the most original/inventive feature/capability of a product/service. If no solution is deemed to be markedly or sufficiently original/inventive, either as a product/service on the whole or by feature/capability specifically, no Trend Setter Award is presented. Only one Trend Setter Award is available for each Vendor Landscape. Best Overall Value Awards are presented to those solutions, and only those solutions, that are ranked highest on the Info-Tech Value Index (see Vendor Landscape Methodology: Information Presentation Value Index, above). If insufficient pricing information is made available for the evaluated solutions, such that a Value Index cannot be calculated, no Best Overall Value Award will be presented. Only one Best Overall Value Award is available for each Vendor Landscape. Vendor Awards Info-Tech s Champion Award is presented to solutions in the Champion zone of the Vendor Landscape. Info-Tech s Trend Setter Award is presented to the most original/inventive solution evaluated. Info-Tech s Best Overall Value Award is presented to the solution with the highest Value Index score. 49