If you’ve ever experienced extended hold times, dropped calls or repeated transfers when calling customer service, then you are well-acquainted with the concept of “customer friction.” The term refers to anything that gets in the way of a smooth and effortless interaction between businesses and their customers — and it is contributing to a growing sense of dissatisfaction among U.S. consumers.
Business IT
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented new rules requiring publicly traded companies to report cybersecurity incidents. The rules will also affect privately held companies in a public company’s supply chain.
Enhancing the customer experience is a top priority for many companies — and with good reason. Myriad studies show that CX investments deliver a huge return. The Temkin Group found that companies can increase revenue by 70 percent or more within three years of investing in CX. According to a report from PwC, consumers are willing to pay 16 percent more for a great experience.
During the first nine months of 2023, the U.S. experienced 24 natural disasters with damages exceeding $1 billion each — the most since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began tracking such events in 1980. The numbers reflect a troubling trend, with eight of the 10 worst years for billion-dollar disasters occurring in the past decade.
Businesses need technology, but not many need to own it. That’s the beauty of the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model — it enables companies to access the robust technologies they need without taking on any of the capital costs, maintenance expenses or obsolescence risks that are part and parcel of in-house IT infrastructure.
