Performance Optimisation Technologies will fuel next wave of Contact Centre Growth

According to a new report from analyst firm, Saddletree Research, performance optimisation technologies will be a key driver of profitability and growth in the contact centre industry over the next five years. As a result, says the report, it represents the most significant technology growth opportunity since the failure of the dotcom boom and the implosion of the worldwide telecommunications markets.

Paul Stockford, founder and Chief Analyst at Saddletree Research, says the long-term strength of employee optimisation lies in its pragmatism: “Rather than add yet another new technology to contact centre operations, performance optimisation software takes the technologies and human resources already in place and makes them perform at optimal levels.” Saddletree estimates that the US market for performance optimisation technologies will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60.8% over the next five years, taking the value of the market to US$228 million by 2007. Cathal McGloin, President and CEO of Performix Technologies - named by Saddletree as the performance optimisation market’s pioneer and de-facto leader - expects to see that growth mirrored in Europe, with a market value of $70 million by 2007.

“Performance optimisation succeeds by driving change. The business intelligence and analytics technologies of the past told companies how their call centres were performing but not what to do about it. Performance optimisation goes a step further by linking information to individual and business wide performance objectives, then using it to fuel employee appraisals, incentivisations and personal development programs. If, facing a harsh economic climate and low-cost competition from offshore, the challenge for today’s contact centres is to reduce costs while improving service to the customer, then performance management technologies will continue thrive.”