A More Passionate and Independent Genesys

26 Feb 2012

At the first Genesys analyst conference since the company has been an independent entity and no longer part of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the company displayed new vigor, and lots and lots of passion (if we played the drinking game where everyone took a drink whenever the word "passion" was mentioned, we'd be in a lot of trouble!). The company is very optimistic about its future, and as Tom Eggermeir noted during his opening statement, "We have the opportunity to take Genesys from being a great brand to an iconic company." Company representatives spent the next day and a half talking about how they will do this.

Genesys' new rallying cry is "Saving the world from bad customer service." They even have wristbands with these words, which many people were wearing with pride. When discussing what will be different in the new Genesys, Nicolas de Kouchkovsky pointed to several priorities:

Focus and management dedication to accelerate execution,
Brand - the company is focused on making Genesys the premier brand for customer care and customer service,
Growth - the company will grow both organically and inorganically in both core and adjacent markets. This will be helped in part by Genesys' new investors, which all have track records in mergers and acquisitions,
TCO - this is on top of Genesys' new agenda. The company acknowledges that its software can be complex, and as customer service evolves and there are more touchpoints, it becomes even more complex. Genesys will focus on reducing TCO for customers,
Deeper engagement with top customers, and
Leveraging the human and intellectual capital of the Genesys service organization.

These all seem very doable, and I see no reason why Genesys shouldn't be able to succeed in meeting its goals.

As usual, we heard from several of Genesys' customers, all of which are doing very innovative things, using the Genesys tools to help them provide better customer care and service. We got to hear from Dave Tidwell of Anana via Skype, and he was as informative as ever, describing how his customers are using Genesys Social Engagement to leverage social media for customer care. One of his key comments was retweeted multiple times noted that: "FCR is meaningless in this digital world - it's about managing interactions." Anana and its customers are using Social Engagement to manage interactions, and he provided key insights about how to use social to achieve results, as well as key metrics that are helping customers have a better understanding of how to use social tools.

We got to hear about the product roadmap, but most of it was NDA so I can't divulge anything, but there are some interesting new products and enhancements planned for the next couple of years, so stay tuned. The key product areas will be mobile and social - which was highlighted when Max Ball stated, "Mobile could be the catalyst to rid the world of bad customer service."

We also met with and heard from the new Genesys investors, Permira, Banneker Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures. Despite their youth, these are sharp guys who have been following the technology market for quite a while and clearly recognize Genesys' value and opportunity in the market. The ultimate goal is for an IPO in about five years. Before that, however, Genesys needs to increase its diversification into mobile, social, Intelligent Workload Distribution (iWD), SIP, WFO, analytics, and similar areas that are higher growth areas than Genesys' core business.

As Nicolas de Kouchkovsky rightly pointed out, the biggest challenge for Genesys is its go-to-market efforts. This is especially true as the company branches out from its core business to areas such as social, mobile, and other areas that impact the enterprise, rather than just the contact center, and there are different buyers that the company will need to interact with.

As always, Genesys put on a great analyst conference, providing us with access to key executives and subject matter experts, as well as customers. I like what I heard, and especially like the company's focus on social and mobile, which are key to the future of the customer experience. Hopefully the new investors will provide Genesys with the resources and freedom to grow so that the company can truly help save the world from bad customer service.