Forrester Recognizes 10Pearls in Digital Experience Vendor Landscape
There’s no question that your customers—no matter who they are or what you’re selling to them—expect to interact digitally with your brand. Across industries, company leaders are investing aggressively in digital customer experiences. According to Forrester’s recent research (link requires Forrester subscription), 48% of marketers are increasing their digital experience budget for 2017.
Digital experiences are critical components of today’s most successful business strategies as businesses seek to build customer engagement. 10Pearls is deeply committed to helping our clients create them. Building engaging, effective, scalable digital experiences requires a medley of skill sets – something that is 10Pearls’ sweet spot as a global end-to-end digital services provider.
That’s why I’m thrilled that we’ve been identified by Forrester among just 57 of the “biggest and most important digital experience service providers” in the Vendor Landscape: Digital Experience Service Providers, 2017 report (link requires Forrester subscription).
In addition to 10Pearls, Forrester assessed other major industry players, including Deloitte, Accenture, EPAM, PwC, ThoughtWorks, and KPMG. 10Pearls is one of only four firms included in the report that has a presence in the Washington, D.C. metro region.
The best digital experiences drive loyalty, but in order to meet customers’ expectations, brands must create digital experiences that are seamless across channels and devices and tailored to customers’ immediate needs. This can be challenging, which is why, according to Forrester, more than 90% of decision makers decide to work with an outside partner to build and manage digital experiences and transform the supporting technology architecture and operations.
Forrester’s analysis found that the most capable digital experience service firms have expertise in five areas: (1) customer experience strategy, (2) experience design, (3) data and analytics, (4) digital experience technology, (5) program management and global operations services.
Based on our extensive history building digital products with businesses across a variety of industry sectors focused on selling to both consumers and businesses, I’d add that the best digital experiences also require a few additional mission-critical components:
Alignment between digital experiences and business outcomes
The creation of a digital experience should begin with an intense focus on the desired business objectives. What customer behaviors are you hoping to change and/or drive? How does the experience help the company achieve its growth goals? How will its success be measured? Behind every engaging mobile app or beautiful website should be a clear understanding of (a) how these experiences fit into the overall business plan and (b) which metrics will be used to measure ROI.
Integrated security
Even the most appealing digital experiences will backfire if your customers’ security or privacy is compromised. Architecting security into digital experiences from the start, and preventing breaches through proactive monitoring, ensures that digital experiences remain loyalty drivers, not liabilities.
A definitive roadmap
Digital experiences exist within technologies that are in a constant state of change. Operating systems are updated, new devices are debuted, innovative features are rolled out. More importantly, the expectation of the end user changes based on his or her demographics, personal experiences, cultural circumstances, and a myriad of other factors. Digital experiences can’t be stagnant—they must evolve with those changes. At the most basic level, all digital products will require several updates each year simply to keep pace with technology and the natural evolution of human-centered design. It’s essential that companies choose partners (not just vendors) that are equipped to not only build, but maintain and expand, digital experiences well into the future.
We thrive on helping businesses create digital experiences that make a transformative impact on their business. If you’d like to create or strengthen the digital experience you offer to your customers, we should talk. Our design sprints offering can help jump-start your initiatives. Get in touch with us today.
