We’re pleased to announce that Perficient has been named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Adobe Experience Cloud Professional Services 2024-2025 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US51741024, December 2024). We believe this recognition is a testament to our commitment to excellence and our dedication to delivering top-notch Adobe services to our clients.

Continue reading to learn more about what the IDC MarketScape is, why Perficient is named a Major Player, and what this designation means to our clients.

Understanding This IDC MarketScape

This IDC MarketScape evaluated Adobe Experience Cloud professional service providers, creating a framework to compare vendors’ capabilities and strategies. Many organizations need help planning and deploying technology, and finding the right vendor is critical.

According to Douglas Hayward, senior research director for CX services and strategies at IDC, “Organizations choosing an Adobe Experience Cloud professional service should look for proof that their vendor has high-quality professionals who have a track record in empowering their clients and delivering the best value for the fairest price.”

This IDC MarketScape study provides a comprehensive vendor assessment of the Adobe Experience Cloud professional services ecosystem. It evaluates both quantitative and qualitative characteristics that contribute to success in this market. The study covers various vendors, assessing them against a rigorous framework that highlights the most influential factors for success in both the short and long term.

Perficient is a Major Player

We believe being named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape is a significant achievement for Perficient and underscores our Adobe Experience Cloud capabilities, industry and technical acumen, global delivery center network, and commitment to quality customer service. We further believe the study is evidence of our expertise and continued focus on solving our clients’ business challenges.

Hayward said, “In our evaluation of Perficient for the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Adobe Experience Cloud Professional Services 2024-2025 Vendor Assessment, it was evident that Perficient has global delivery expertise that combines an experience design heritage with strong capabilities in digital experience transformation.”

The IDC MarketScape also says, “Based on conversations with Perficient’s clients, the vendor’s three main strengths are value creation, people quality, and client empowerment.”

Our Commitment to Excellence

At Perficient, we are committed to maintaining and improving our services and solutions. We continuously strive to innovate and enhance our capabilities and offerings to meet the evolving needs of our clients, further empower them, and drive value.

Learn More

You can also read our News Release for more details on this recognition and make sure to follow our Adobe blog for more Adobe platform insights!

How to ensure your toolset matches your vision, team and long term goals.

Seems common sense right? Use the right tool for the right purpose. However, in the DXP and Drupal space, we often see folks trying to fit their project to the tool and not the tool to the project.

There are many modules, profiles, and approaches to building Drupal out there, and most all of them have their time and place. The key is knowing when to implement which and why. I am going to take a little time here a dive into one of those key decisions that we find ourselves at Perficient facing frequently and how we work with our clients to ensure the proper approach is selected for their Drupal application.

Site Studio vs Standard Drupal(blocks, views, content, etc..) vs Layout Builder

I would say this is the most common area where we see confusion related to the best tooling and how to pick. To start let’s do a summary of the various options(there are many more approaches available but these are the common ones we encounter), as well as their pros and cons.

First, we have Acquia Site Studio, it is a low-code site management tool built on top of Drupal. And it is SLICK. They provide web user editable templates, components, helpers, and more that allow a well trained Content Admin to have control of almost every aspect of the look and feel of the website. There is drag and drop editors for all templates that would traditionally be TWIG, as well as UI editors for styles, fonts and more. This is the cadillac of low code solutions for Drupal, but that comes with some trade offs in terms of developer customizability and config management strategies. We have also noticed, that not every content team actually utilizes the full scope of Site Studio features, which can lead to additional complexity without any benefit, but when the team is right, Site Studio is a very powerful tool.

The next option we frequently see, is a standard Drupal build utilizing Content Types and Blocks to control page layouts, with WYSIWYG editors for rich content and a standard Drupal theme with SASS, TWIG templates, etc…. This is the one you see most developer familiarity with, as well as the most flexibility to implement custom work as well as clean configuration management. The trade off here, is that most customizations will require a developer to build them out, and content editors are limited to “color between the lines” of what was initially built. We have experienced both content teams that were very satisfied with the defined controls, but also teams that felt handcuffed with the limitations and desired more UI/UX customizations without deployments/developer involvement.

The third and final option we will be discussing here, is the Standard Drupal option described above, with the addition of Layout Builder. Layout Builder is a Drupal Core module that enables users to attach layouts, such as 1 column, 2 column and more to various Drupal Entity types(Content, Users, etc..). These layouts then support the placement of blocks into their various regions to give users drag and drop flexibility over laying out their content. Layout Builder does not support full site templates or custom theme work such as site wide CSS changes. Layout Builder can be a good middle ground for content teams not looking for the full customization and accompanying complexity of Site Studio, but desiring some level of content layout control. Layout builder does come with some permissions and configuration management considerations. It is important to decide what is treated as content and what as configuration, as well as define roles and permissions to ensure proper editors have access to the right level of customizations.

Now that we have covered the options as well as the basic pros and cons of each, how do you know which tool is right for your team and your project? This is where we at Perficient start with a holistic review of your needs, short and long term goals, as well as the technical ability of your internal team. It is important to honestly evaluate this. Just because something has all the bells and whistles, do you have the team and time to utilize them, or is it a sunk cost with limited ROI. On the flip side, if you have a very technically robust team, you don’t want to handcuff them and leave them frustrated with limitations that could impact marketing opportunities that could lead to higher ROI.

Additional considerations that can help guide your choice in toolset would be future goals and initiatives. Is a rebrand coming soon? Is your team going to quickly expand with more technical staff? These might point towards Site Studio as the right choice. Is your top priority consistency and limiting unnecessary customizations? Then standard structured content might be the best approach. Do you want to able to customize your site, but just don’t have the time or budget to undertake Site Studio? Layout Builder might be something you should closely look at.

Perficient starts these considerations at the first discussions with our potential clients, and continue to guide them through the sales and estimation process to ensure the right basic Drupal tooling is selected. This then continues through implementation as we continue to inform stakeholders about the best toolsets beyond the core systems. In future articles we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various SSO, DAM, Analytics, Drupal module solutions as well as the new Star Shot Drupal Initiative and how it will impact the planning of your next Drupal build!

As new technologies become available within the digital space, businesses must adapt quickly by modernizing their legacy systems and harnessing the power of the cloud to stay competitive. Forrester’s 2024 report recognizes 42 notable providers– and we’re proud to announce that Perficient is among them.

We believe our inclusion in Forrester’s Application Modernization and Multicloud Managed Services Landscape, Q4 2024 reflects our commitment to evolving enterprise applications and managing multicloud environments to enhance customer experiences and drive growth in a complex digital world.

With the demand for digital transformation growing rapidly, this landscape provides valuable insights into what businesses can expect from service providers, how different companies compare, and the options available based on provider size and market focus.

Application Modernization and Multicloud Managed Services

Forrester defines application modernization and multicloud managed services as:

“Services that offer technical and professional support to perform application and system assessments, ongoing application multicloud management, application modernization, development services for application replacements, and application retirement.”

According to the report,

“Cloud leaders and sourcing professionals implement application modernization and multicloud managed services to:

• Deliver superior customer experiences.
• Gain access to technical and transformational skills and capabilities.
• Reduce costs associated with legacy technologies and systems.”

By focusing on application modernization and multicloud management, Perficient empowers businesses to deliver superior customer experiences through agile technologies that boost user satisfaction. We provide clients with access to cutting-edge technical and transformational skills, allowing them to stay ahead of industry trends. Our solutions are uniquely tailored to reduce costs associated with maintaining legacy systems, helping businesses optimize their IT budgets while focusing on growth.

Focus Areas for Modernization and Multicloud Management

Perficient has honed its expertise in several key areas that are critical for organizations looking to modernize their applications and manage multicloud environments effectively. As part of the report, Forrester asked each provider included in the Landscape to select the top business scenarios for which clients select them and from there determined which are the extended business scenarios that highlight differentiation among the providers. Perficient self-reported three key business scenarios that clients work with us out of those extended application modernization and multicloud services business scenarios:

• Infrastructure Modernization: We help clients transform their IT infrastructure to be more flexible, scalable, and efficient, supporting the rapid demands of modern applications.
• Cloud-Native Development Execution: Our cloud-native approach enables new applications to leverage cloud environments, maximizing performance and agility.
• Cloud Infrastructure “Run”: We provide ongoing support for cloud infrastructure, keeping applications and systems optimized, secure, and scalable.

Delivering Value Through Innovation

Perficient is listed among large consultancies with an industry focus in financial services, healthcare, and the manufacturing/production of consumer products. Additionally, our geographic presence in North America, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region was noted.

We believe that Perficient’s inclusion in Forrester’s report serves as another milestone in our mission to drive digital innovation for our clients across industries. We are proud to be recognized among notable providers and look forward to continuing to empower our clients to transform their digital landscapes with confidence. For more information on how Perficient can help your business with application modernization and multicloud managed services, contact us today.

Download the Forrester report, The Application Modernization And Multicloud Managed Services Landscape, Q4 2024, to learn more (link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

For my first time attending the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), I must say it did not disappoint. This incredible event in Chicago happens every two years and is massive in size, taking up every main hall in McCormick Place. It was a combination of technology showcases, featuring everything from robotics to AI and smart manufacturing.

As a Digital Strategy Director at Perficient, I was excited to see the latest advancements on display representing many of the solutions that our company promotes and implements at the leading manufacturers around the globe. Not to mention, IMTS was the perfect opportunity to network with industry influencers as well as technology partners.

Oh, the People You Will Meet and Things You Will See at IMTS

Whenever you go to a show of this magnitude, you’re bound to run into someone you know. I was fortunate to experience the show with several colleagues, with a few of us getting to meet our Amazon Web Services (AWS) account leaders as well as Google and Microsoft.

The expertise of the engineers at each demonstration was truly amazing, specifically at one Robotic QA display. This robotic display was taking a series of pictures of automobile doors with the purpose of looking for defects. The data collected would go into their proprietary software for analysis and results. We found this particularly intriguing because we had been presented with similar use cases by some of our customers. We were so engrossed in talking with the engineers that our half-hour-long conversation felt like only a minute or two before we had to move on.

After briefly stopping to grab a pint—excuse me, picture—of the robotic bartender, we made our way to the Smart Manufacturing live presentation on the main stage. The ultra-tech companies presented explanations of how they were envisioning the future with Manufacturing 5.0 and digital twins, featuring big data as a core component.  It was reassuring to hear this, considering that it’s a strength of ours, thus reinforcing the belief that we need to continue focusing on these types of use cases. Along with big data, we should stay the course with trends shaping the industry like Smart Manufacturing, which at its roots are a combination of operations management, cloud, AI, and technology.

Goodbye IMTS, Hello Future Opportunities with Robotics, AI, and Smart Manufacturing

Overall, IMTS was certainly a worthwhile investment. It provided a platform to connect with potential partners, learn about industry trends, and strengthen our relationships with technology partners. As we look ahead to future events, I believe that a focused approach, leveraging our existing partnerships and adapting to the evolving needs of the manufacturing industry, will be key to maximizing our participation.

If you’d like to discuss these takeaways from IMTS Chicago 2024 at greater depth, please be sure to connect with our manufacturing experts.

In June 2024, Oracle announced fiscal 2024 Q4 and full year financial results revealing the market demand for Oracle Cloud Applications remains strong with Oracle Q4 Cloud Application (SaaS) revenue up 10% and Q4 Fusion Cloud ERP (SaaS) revenue up 14%. As Oracle customers look to reap the benefits of their investment in Oracle, many organizations will seek the expertise of Oracle services providers to guide them on their cloud journey.

Forrester released The Oracle Services Landscape, Q3 2024 report to help organizations understand the value they can expect from Oracle services providers and explore potential partners.

Oracle Services Providers

According to the report, “Technology leaders often use one or more Oracle services providers to: implement Oracle cloud products and solutions, provide continuous change management and ongoing Oracle applications support, and future-proof enterprise operational business processes.”

Perficient’s Recognition and Focus Areas

We believe Perficient has been recognized for our ability to deliver on these promises, helping clients implement Oracle cloud products and solutions, provide ongoing support, improve operational efficiencies and business processes with tangible business results. Perficient self-reported the following extended business scenarios as the top three focus areas:

• Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): We deliver full-cycle projects to solution, roadmap, and implement Oracle Cloud ERP solutions by leveraging deep industry expertise and accelerators to enable businesses to modernize best practices to scale and grow.
• Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management (SCM): We help modernize and mature our clients’ end to end global supply chain through strategic sourcing and spend control, source-to-pay improvements, cycle time reduction, and inventory and materials management.
• Oracle Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM): We provide quantitative insights on performance metrics and critical details to help drive corporate strategies leveraging Oracle Cloud EPM to improve the speed, flexibility, and accuracy of planning, budgeting, and consolidation cycles.

Perficient’s Expertise and Industry Focus

Forrester presented an overview of vendors in the market, including geographic and industry focuses and top use cases. They segmented vendors based on geographic focus, industry focus, deployment options, and size.

Perficient was listed among small providers in this space with $10 to <$100 million in annual Oracle services revenue. Perficient’s listing as a consultancy in this Landscape report includes our geographic presence (North America and Asia-Pacific) and industry focus areas (healthcare, manufacturing/production of industrial products, and natural resources and mining).

Download the Forrester report, The Oracle Services Landscape, Q3 2024, to learn more (Link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

Imagine a world where your business can effortlessly keep pace with technological advancements and continuously changing customer expectations. The ability to swiftly develop new technology products and applications is crucial to staying competitive. However, relying solely on in-house development capabilities is not always feasible for many organizations.

Forrester released its Modern Application Development Services Landscape, Q3 2024 report to help businesses understand the value they can expect from modern application development (MAD) service providers and explore potential partners.

Modern Application Development Services

Forrester defines MAD service providers as:

“Service providers that work collaboratively with their clients to cocreate custom modern applications and, in parallel, assist them in the transformation and modernization of their software development capabilities and organization.”

In Forrester’s Priorities Survey, 2024, “64% of business and technology professionals said that bringing more development in-house would be a high or critical priority for their IT organization over the next 12 months.”

According to the report, “tech execs and application development leaders implement MAD services to:

• Increase cocreation. … MAD services can cocreate with clients while supporting them in learning how to modernize capabilities with agile, DevOps, native cloud, and edge, including generative AI (genAI).

• Improve customer experience. The goal isn’t to insource 100% of all application development work, but to improve internal capabilities and be efficient partners with MAD service providers.
• Focus on business outcomes, not just outputs. The shift to assessing modern development by measuring benefit realization and business value is a reality.”

Perficient’s Recognition and Focus Areas

We believe Perficient has been recognized for our ability to deliver on these promises, helping clients navigate the complexities of modern application development and achieve tangible business results. Perficient self-reported the following extended use cases as the top three for which clients select them:

• Backend Integration and Modernization: We specialize in integrating and modernizing backend systems to ensure seamless and efficient operations, enabling businesses to stay competitive in the digital age.
• GenAI to Increase Employee Productivity: We leverage genAI technologies to help clients boost employee productivity by automating routine tasks and enhancing decision-making processes.
• Product Operating Model: We focus on developing robust product operating models that align with our clients’ business objectives, ensuring sustainable growth and innovation.

Perficient’s Expertise and Industry Focus

Forrester based its analysis of service providers on two factors: market presence and services functionality. They segmented vendors into three categories based on MAD services revenue: large, midsize, and small; and five categories based on services functionality and global reach.

Perficient was listed as a large provider in this space with $250 million or more in annual MAD services revenue. Perficient’s listing as a consultancy in this Landscape report includes our geographic presence (North America, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific) and industry focus areas (healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing/production of consumer products).

We are proud of this achievement and remain committed to leveraging our expertise in modern application development to help our clients succeed. For more information on how Perficient can help your business with custom application development and digital transformation, contact us today.

Download the Forrester report, The Modern Application Development Services Landscape, Q3 2024, to learn more (Link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

Customers are demanding a personalized experience, and manufacturing is no different. One-size-fits-all manufacturing is now becoming a thing of the past. Today, we are seeing a decline in the mass production of identical products in exchange for personalization and niche products. As consumers intensify their expectations for on-demand personalization and delivery within days of purchase, marketplaces that offer wide ranges of options without sacrificing price or availability, like Amazon, have been capitalizing on this shift in customer behavior.

To achieve low costs while offering high availability and personalized products, manufacturers must alter their operations to be flexible, focusing on creating a wider range of products that share common underlying components or production processes. Perficient is committed to advising manufacturers as they face these new challenges outlined in Forrester’s recent report, “Key Steps to Develop Your Manufacturing Operations Management Vision.”

Our Manufacturing Operations Management Capabilities

Forrester interviewed several service providers and manufacturers to gain a holistic understanding of the current state of manufacturing operations management (MOM). The report outlines the importance of achieving variety while maintaining low cost and high availability to thrive in this new landscape. Ultimately, Forrester concluded that exploiting economies of scope – where the unit price of a product decreases as the variety increases – is the solution.

According to Forrester, “To thrive in fragmented and restless markets, manufacturers must compete on economies of scope, sharing fixed costs between multiple product or asset variants to deliver the innovation, choice, and personalization that will win, serve, and retain customers.” Further, Forrester stated, “… to compete with innovation, manufacturers must modernize their supply chain and manufacturing operations to manage — at scale and velocity — the digital thread that links design, manufacture, and the ongoing operation and maintenance of assets… and boost manufacturing execution system (MES) interoperability with enterprise resource planning (ERP) scheduling solutions…”

We believe Perficient is uniquely poised as an end-to-end digital consultancy with deep industry expertise to partner with manufacturing brands embarking on this journey. Our established practices, from supply chain to commerce, offer a customized strategy that meets the organization in its current state and execution that secures long-term success. Our supply chain experts routinely help organizations in sales and operations planning, strategic sourcing and spend control, procure to pay, inventory and materials management, operations continuation, risk management, end-to-end supply chain visibility, and more.

Finally, our partnerships with the other technology providers listed in Forrester’s report, such as Oracle and SAP, further equip us with the expertise needed to help brands navigate their modernization.

Perficient’s Manufacturing Industry Expertise

Forrester interviewed leaders from Perficient’s manufacturing and supply chain teams while researching this report. Kevin Espinosa, manufacturing industry lead at Perficient, remarked:

“We believe our participation as a company interviewed for the report on Manufacturing Operations Management is a testament to how critical our industry expertise is for manufacturing companies working to transform their operations and meet their customers needs.”

Perficient is excited to continue to share thought leadership and perspective on emerging trends in manufacturing operations management. For more information, download “Key Steps to Develop Your Manufacturing Operations Management Vision,” (available for purchase or to Forrester subscribers) or contact our manufacturing and supply chain experts today.

I was given the opportunity to partner with my colleague David Stallsmith to present at B2B Connect in San Diego, CA. We were thrilled to participate in this invite-only conference and host our session, “How to Prioritize Your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Capabilities: What Should I Do Now vs Next?” We summarized why D2C is important to many companies during our workshop and discussed the latest trends. Then, we reviewed the D2C capabilities segmented into three groups: basic, emerging, and innovative.

At Perficient, we have a framework called “Now, New, Next” in which we associate the “Now” category to current capabilities, the “New” category to emerging capabilities, and the “Next” category to innovative capabilities. We use this framework to talk about a company’s maturity and develop a roadmap to help them with many transformational business needs. The most engaging part of our workshop was when we gave the audience time to complete their own Now, New, Next exercise for D2C capabilities and opened the discussion about what they saw as important to them.

Let’s discuss what was so exciting about these insights.

What’s Happening Right Now?

Regarding the “Now” category, SEO and marketing campaigns were the most checked items on the list of current capabilities. These categories’ popularity does not surprise me – if companies want their products to be found or heard about, then SEO and marketing campaigns are crucial components of the strategy.

Following these two current capabilities closely were customer experience and customer support. It’s good to see that the majority of companies have not only already identified that focusing on the customer is of utmost importance but also made significant moves towards providing excellence in customer care. Having a commerce site with a shopping cart and transaction capabilities was also checked off the same amount.

From these insights, you can begin to see the pattern: We want our site to be able to be found, we want to market the site and the products, and we want to have a great customer experience. Items that made the list, but weren’t quite as popular, were secure payment, product information, and basic analytics.

After reviewing where most of the companies are focusing in D2C capabilities, we would recommend more focus in basic commerce capabilities to focus on product information such as overview, specifications, and imagery early on in your journey. This is crucial to the customer experience and their ability to understand your products.

New: Where It Gets Interesting

What was checked the most on the “New” list? Of all the emerging capabilities, the most popular was triggered marketing campaigns. Again, this capability follows the theme we’re seeing of wanting to be able to act on the customer’s behavior on the site and follow up on what they found important. There were several tied for the most mentioned, a group of them having to do with the promotional type of capabilities: promotion, loyalty programs, and upselling. The others with the same number of mentions were commerce-related capabilities: shipping options and returns.

Again, these capabilities were focused on advancing the promotional and commerce capabilities mentioned in the “Now” basic category. We would recommend that capabilities such as upselling and cross-selling and a guided shopping experience be included in this phase.

What Are Cutting-Edge Companies Doing?

When it comes to the “Next” category, we naturally see much less checked off. This category lists only the most cutting-edge capabilities that will be adopted in the future, but companies are only just scratching the surface now.

When it comes to the most popular item in the “Next” category, I won’t be shocking anyone: AI-driven personalization was checked off the most. As we all know, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is a megatrend, and in D2C, it is no different. Next was A/B testing, which has a lot to do with the customer experience we saw so popular in the “New” category. Finally, we saw customer surveys and chatbots.

AI is going to have a big influence in everything that we do. In D2C, we see it has a big influence in triggering a personalized customer experience, conducting analysis of the customer behaviors, and powering a more intelligent chatbot.

Diving Into D2C Insights in Manufacturing and Distribution

There was a lot of logic in the feedback we received in the session, but there were also a few surprises. Of course, the companies wanted their site and products to be found, and of course they wanted to make sure they built a first-class customer experience on a commerce platform. Along with that, it’s clear that they would prioritize at least the basic shopping capabilities like good product information, shopping cart, shipping options, and returns.

But there are so many items that weren’t as popularly checked off in our categories that would be a huge difference in these areas, and we urge companies to consider making significant investments as soon as possible. Capabilities such as analyzing website traffic and customer behavior are key to informing your decisions regarding enhancements for your site. Further, guided selling is a capability that improves the customer experience by helping customers find parts that fit or complement the product they own or are thinking about purchasing.

Did you see any popular items here that aren’t on your list of capabilities? Were there any that you’re excited to prioritize in the coming months? Tap into our manufacturing industry expertise and reach out to discuss further with us the insights we’ve gathered and how to prioritize these direct-to-consumer capabilities.

Dive deeper into D2C for Manufacturers.

Navigating the complexities of cloud technology requires an exceptional partner. We are thrilled to announce that Perficient has been named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US51406224, June 2024).

What Does This Inclusion Mean for Perficient?

“We’re honored to be recognized as a Major Player in this IDC MarketScape Report, a distinction we believe highlights our holistic approach to cloud strategy and our implementation expertise,” said Glenn Kline, Perficient’s Area Vice President of Product Development Operations. “We combine our Envision Framework, migration and modernization expertise, and our strong network of partnerships with leading cloud providers to drive measurable business outcomes for our customers. Our Agile-ready global team enables businesses to think big, start small, and act fast so they can scale their cloud ecosystem over time and deliver on the outcomes promised by cloud computing.”

According to the IDC MarketScape, businesses should “consider Perficient if [they] are looking for a midsized cloud services provider that can combine client intimacy with industrial-strength capabilities in technology transformation and experience design and build.” Additionally, our global managed services group has created comprehensive accelerators such as the App Modernization IQ, Cloud FinOps IQ, and Green Impact IQ, serving as effective tools for guiding clients in cloud operations strategies.

What Does This Mean for Our Clients?

We believe this inclusion reaffirms Perficient as a trusted partner in cloud transformation. Perficient Cloud, our comprehensive suite of six solution areas, serves as a roadmap to navigate the evolving landscape of cloud technology. These areas focus on delivering critical business and technology capabilities, with agnostic offers and accelerators tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Our Agile-ready global team enables businesses to think big, start small, and act fast, allowing scalable cloud ecosystems that maximize investment. Our focus areas include:

• Technology Modernization: Enhancing performance and efficiency through updated infrastructure.
• Product Differentiation: Creating innovative product offerings that stand out.
• Customer Engagement: Improving interactions and experiences with personalized, data-driven approaches.
• Data & AI Enablement: Driving insights and innovation with advanced analytics and AI.
• Automation & Operational Agility: Boosting efficiency with automation solutions.
• Sustainable Practices: Promoting responsible and impactful cloud strategies.

Join Us on Our Cloud Journey

We believe our inclusion in the IDC MarketScape report highlights our commitment to helping businesses navigate the complexities of cloud transformation. We are dedicated to delivering top-tier cloud solutions that drive growth and innovation.

To learn more about Perficient’s cloud professional services, download the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment report available to IDC subscribers and for purchase. You can also read our News Release for more details on this recognition.

In today’s markets, generative AI is revolutionizing industries by streamlining content creation, enhancing customer engagement, and driving innovation. Businesses leverage this technology to gain a competitive edge, improve operational efficiency, and deliver personalized experiences. In customer service, generative AI enables chatbots and virtual agents to understand and respond to customer inquiries with high accuracy and relevance, enhancing service personalization, solving complex problems, and improving feedback analysis.

The emergence of generative AI (GenAI) has created novel revenue streams for systems integrators that provide services integrating GenAI capabilities into customer support platforms and workflows. To maintain a competitive edge, these service providers must proactively develop strategies to deliver GenAI-powered solutions to their clients.

The Competitive Landscape: GenAI System Integrators for Customer Support Services

Perficient is proud to be listed under Competitive Profiles in the Gartner Competitive Landscape: GenAI System Integrators for Customer Support Services report, published June 11, 2024. “This Competitive Landscape assesses eight different vendors playing a prominent GenAI SI role in customer service.” “Final selection captured a mix of SIs serving customers focused on different types of accounts. Gartner categorize these SIs as strategic SIs, global tech SIs and regional tech SIs. There is some overlap among these SIs, so it is common for SIs of different categories to compete against one another. All vendors selected leveraged a mix of hyperscaler GenAI vendors, usually complemented with one or more open-sourced vendors.”

Our GenAI and Customer Care Capabilities

According to Gartner, “GenAI opens new revenue opportunities for service providers offering system integration services that support customer support platforms and processes.”

As a global tech SI, we believe Perficient stands out for its approach to GenAI implementation in customer support. Some key points that we believe differentiate Perficient include:

1. Vertical Expertise: Perficient has notable strengths in manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors, which are leading the initial GenAI adoption for customer support. This aligns with Perficient’s well-established legacy SI business in these verticals.
2. Comprehensive CCaaS Support: Perficient supports multiple Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platforms, with a focus on leading providers like Amazon Connect, Cisco, Genesis, and Five9.
3. Flexible Technology Approach: While prioritizing GenAI platforms from major hyperscalers (Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft), Perficient also integrates specialized tools from vendors like Mistral, Databricks, Pinecone, and Writer when needed. This approach ensures clients receive the most effective and tailored GenAI solutions.
4. Scaling and Repeatability: As highlighted in the Gartner report, Global SIs like Perficient can support hundreds or even thousands of customers with the ability to scale for large enterprises. This allows for speed and efficiency that can be reapplied across similar industries or use cases.
5. Responsible AI Governance: When harnessed properly, AI has the potential to impact all aspects of business operations and customer experiences. Moving ideas from conception to production presents new readiness challenges such as use case selection with business cases, encouraging awareness and appropriate use, and ethical and fiscal risk management. Perficient’s PACE Framework is a holistic approach to designing tailored operational AI programs that empower business and technical stakeholders to innovate with confidence while mitigating risks and upholding ethical standards.

Our Contact Center Capabilities

Perficient provides comprehensive services for contact centers and customer interaction solutions. We strategize the optimal approach for handling customer interactions and develop operational plans for contact centers and related functions. We identify the best technology fit for a client’s needs, designing and implementing leading platforms like Twilio Flex and Amazon Connect to create top-notch customer engagement solutions. Our experts integrate these contact center systems with complementary platforms to deliver full-fledged solutions.

Perficient’s managed services ensure continuous support, so customer interactions occur uninterrupted. This allows businesses to nimbly adapt and make changes in response to market shifts and evolving customer needs. With Perficient’s services, organizations can provide seamless, agile customer experiences powered by cutting-edge contact center technologies.​

Learn More About Perficient’s CX Services

Whether your business is just starting its Generative AI journey or seeking to enhance its current efforts, partnering with the right service provider can make all the difference.

Gartner subscribers can find the report directly at Competitive Landscape: GenAI Systems Integrators for Customer Support Services.

Gartner, Competitive Landscape: GenAI Systems Integrators for Customer Support Services, 11 June 2024. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

In today’s competitive climate, an exceptional customer experience (CX) is no longer a luxury, but rather an essential pillar of business success. Providing a seamless, personalized journey has become the cornerstone of brand loyalty, customer retention, and revenue growth. Customers expect positive omnichannel experiences, and brands that fall short of these expectations will not only miss out on current revenue, but also risk future sales due to negative perception and reputation challenges.

With brands stretching across digital and physical properties, building an omnichannel customer experience can seem daunting. Partnering with an experienced consulting partner provides a strategic and custom approach, enabling organizations to activate and engage their customers at every touchpoint. According to the Forrester report, “Clients lean on their providers to spark change within their organizations: to support customer-focused culture shifts, help them develop more customer-friendly products and services, and understand and amplify the growth potential of creating better customer experiences.”

Forrester’s State of CX Teams Survey, 2024, reported that “half of CX decision-makers say that improving CX is the top priority for their organization’s executives; nearly 60% say that their organization’s CX program is responsible for the CX strategy. In fact, two-thirds of CX decision-makers say that they plan to increase spending with CX strategy consulting services in 2024.”

The Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Services Landscape, Q2 2024

Perficient is proud to be recognized as a large consultancy in The Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Services Landscape, Q2 2024 report with an industry focus in financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing/production of consumer products, and a geographic focus in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Our CX Capabilities

Forrester carefully researched each service provider in the report through a set of comprehensive questions and identified three core business scenarios – vision and strategy setting, business assessment/analysis, and customer research. According to Forrester, “These are the business scenarios that buyers most frequently seek and expect CX strategy consulting services providers to address.” We believe as a leading digital consultancy that helps clients imagine, create, engineer, and run digital transformation and CX solutions, that we in turn, help organizations drive growth, efficiency, and differentiation in these three areas.

Through our customer experience and digital marketing practice, we use behavioral insights and predictive modeling to give a deep understanding of customers and their brand interaction so that organizations can influence behavior and build a relationship with them through positive interactions that are scalable across touchpoints.

One of the ways we help organizations optimize their CX is through our Journey Science jumpstart, a 6 week approach that uses research, data-driven insights, and continuous optimization to help organizations deliver frictionless experiences. This proprietary approach employs behavioral insights and predictive modeling to give organizations a deep understanding of their customers and their interaction with a brand so businesses can influence behavior and build a relationship with customers through positive interactions that are scalable across touchpoints.

In addition to the core business scenarios in this report, Forrester also references seven extended business scenarios that are important to certain buyers looking for CX services.

Forrester asked each vendor included in the Landscape to select the top three business scenarios for which clients select them and from there determined which are the extended business scenarios that highlight differentiation among the vendors. We are shown in the report for having selected organization transformation, technology transformation, and experience design as some of the top reasons clients work with us out of the listed extended business scenarios.

Learn More About Perficient’s CX Services

Whether your business is just starting its CX journey or seeking to enhance its current efforts, partnering with the right service provider can make all the difference. With a team of more than 125 CX professionals, Perficient combines data-driven insights with human-centered methodologies to maximize business impacts. Contact us now to discover how our expertise can take your business to new heights.

Download the Forrester report, The Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Landscape, Q2 2024 to learn more (Link to report available to Forrester subscribers and for purchase).

Over the last year, I’ve witnessed significant changes transforming the manufacturing industry. One driver of this change – which won’t surprise you – is artificial intelligence (AI), and it is the most influential force shaping both professional and personal lives. However, AI isn’t the only noteworthy trend manufacturers need to focus on.

As I collaborate with clients and colleagues, several trends consistently emerge:

The Problem with Industry 4.0

One of the challenges with the term “Industry 4.0” lies in understanding its practical implications. Here’s the definition I use: Industry 4.0 leverages data and technology to create connected, adaptable factories that optimize production, predict issues, and personalize the output. This drives efficiency, sustainability, and innovation.

As I’ve worked with clients exploring their use cases, solutions frequently blend data, connectivity, and AI. This blend leads to tangible business outcomes like real-time insights, connected devices/machines, rapid production line adjustments, cost reduction, data-driven decision-making, predictive maintenance, customized production, and global standardization across manufacturing facilities.

The question isn’t who wants this – it’s how to successfully implement it.

Embracing Direct-to-consumer

Many manufacturers are seeking a closer connection with their customers, and this is largely driven by intensifying customer demands for seamless digital experiences modeled after companies like Amazon. However, developing a direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy presents many challenges. Manufacturers with long-established business models historically have relied on partners and dealers for customer relationships and data. A shift towards direct engagement requires a significant transformation.

Additionally, decades of acquisitions have often led to fragmented commerce and marketing platforms ill-suited for D2C optimization. Despite these obstacles, the potential benefits are compelling: increased profits, stronger customer relationships, greater control over the customer experience, access to new markets, and enhanced brand awareness make the D2C investment worthwhile.

Reshoring Operations and Talent

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, particularly for manufacturers reliant on overseas production and parts. The well-documented challenges with shipping containers significantly disrupted operations. This has spurred a growing trend known as reshoring, where companies bring manufacturing jobs and production facilities back to their home countries.

While reshoring can lead to increased production and labor costs, along with initial investments in relocating operations or finding domestic suppliers, potential skill gaps also need to be addressed. However, careful planning can mitigate these challenges. The potential benefits of reshoring are substantial: job creation in the home country, improved product quality due to closer oversight, reduced supply chain costs from shorter transportation distances, enhanced protection of intellectual property, and potentially improved customer service through faster response times.

The Push for Sustainability 

Sustainability has become a critical focus for businesses and consumers alike. While initiatives like electric vehicles (EVs) are prominent examples, sustainability encompasses a much broader scope.  Manufacturers are demonstrating their commitment by reducing their use of energy, natural resources, and materials throughout production processes and product design, while also ensuring their suppliers adhere to similar standards. This focus on sustainability is increasingly influencing consumer purchasing decisions, leading to several compelling business outcomes such as attracting environmentally conscious consumers, increases brand loyalty, reduces resources and operational costs, government incentives, and drives innovation.

These trends, driven by technological innovation and shifting consumer preferences, represent more than just changes for the manufacturing industry –  they hold the potential to redefine it entirely.  Manufacturers who proactively address these shifts stand to gain significant advantages. They can unlock operational efficiencies, deepen customer loyalty, bolster supply chain resilience, and champion environmental responsibility. The future of manufacturing belongs to those who seize the opportunities of today.

Tap into Perficient’s manufacturing industry expertise to assess your capabilities and build a strategic roadmap to capitalize on these trends right now.