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Archive for the ‘Confirmit’ CategoryFaster, faster, faster…Friday, July 17th, 2009
When I used to work at a well known bank, bouncing cheques and cancelling payments for those unlucky people frequently going beyond their credit allowance, a colleague and line manager of the team I worked in used to have what I suppose you could call a catchphrase. He would walk up behind an unsuspecting member of the team and utter the following words… Faster, faster, faster… must go faster! I never really understood whether or not this was his bizarre motivational technique gleaned from reading a book on people management or whether he really was just irritating. Who knows? Maybe it was both. His catchphrase sums up well a trend that I have noticed in my 10+ years in data processing and market research Market research has always, as far as I can tell, been a fast-paced business. And this is very true for those working in data processing, especially as computing power and techniques in processing data improve. The time between questionnaire sign-off to CATI or e-survey setup seems to shrink, as does the time between fieldwork ending and the delivery of cross tabs. Everything has to be as thoroughly checked and accurate as before. It just needs to be delivered that little bit quicker. Over 10 years I think this is an undeniable trend. Ever since I joined B2B International, I’ve looked at ways to improve the turnaround times in data processing that allow us to keep meeting our clients’ expectations. There are many ways of doing this. For example, we can invest in new software, as we have recently with Confirmit for our e-surveys and QPS Insight to allow us to carry out data entry more efficiently. We can also use the software we currently have more wisely, such as writing VBA scripts in Excel to automate certain tasks. Whatever the method we use to meet this challenge, it is a challenge I enjoy. Having said that, I often ask myself whether there will come a point when people working in our industry will start to have to say no more often. Will the time come when the speed of delivery will start to have some detrimental effect on all-round quality of research carried out, and at what point does the trade-off between quality and speed become acceptable? At B2B International we’re well placed to deal with the challenges that market research throws at us. A combination of a strong team, smart thinking, and a constant drive to improve the way we work means we haven’t yet reached the point where “no” is something we have to say very often – and long may that continue! B2B Deliver Client Value Through Software InvestmentTuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Specialist business-to-business Market Research agency B2B International has become the first organization to select the new Confirmit Horizons platform, which will support all of its Web and telephone interviewing activities. Launched on January 31st this year, Confirmit Horizons is the first fully on-demand, multi-mode platform for Market Research, Customer Feedback, and Employee Feedback. B2B International was looking for a new research software solution as part of its continued effort to use the best research methods to deliver strategic advice to clients for future business development. It selected Confirmit Horizons for the time savings it brings, the security measures it provides, and the service enhancements that the agency will be able to offer to its clients. These benefits are a result of Confirmit Horizons’ ability to support all of B2B International’s telephone and Web research through a single solution; its On-Demand delivery model, which removes the need to install software on the agency’s own servers; and the sophisticated reporting capabilities of the Confirmit Reportal module. The platform will replace two separate tools that B2B International has been using for telephone interviewing and Web surveys. Nick Hague, International Research Director of B2B International, explains: Many of the projects we run combine Web and telephone interviewing activities, but our existing CATI system wasn’t as fast as it could have been, meaning several days are spent preparing surveys for telephone interviewing. We then have to repeat the survey creation exercise for the Web portion of the project. Confirmit Horizons removes the need for us to duplicate work for our telephone and Web project. This will not only save us time and effort in the creation and delivery of surveys, but will also speed up our service to clients. The reporting capabilities of Confirmit Horizons were a key factor in B2B International’s choice of platform. With the Confirmit Reportal module, the agency can carry out sophisticated analysis and reporting of its combined Web and telephone survey results, presenting detailed insight to its clients in a variety of methods, including dashboard reports. The availability of Confirmit Horizons as a Software-as-a-Service solution was also critical to the deal. With no requirement to install software on B2B International’s own servers, this answered many of the agency’s concerns regarding security. This model also provides the agency with a cost-effective investment, since there is no hardware cost involved, and guarantees system availability through Confirmit’s uptime guarantees. The Software-as-a-Service model also provides a future-proof solution by offering instant scalability to B2B International via the Internet. Once up and running with the platform at its UK operation, the agency plans to roll out the system to its staff and field workers in China and the US. Pat Molloy, Chief Strategy Officer at Confirmit, concludes: We are delighted that B2B International has instantly recognized the benefits of this new, revolutionary platform. Even before its launch, Confirmit Horizons has been generating a great deal of interest among Market Research organizations and enterprises alike. With an organisation of the stature of B2B International on board we anticipate many firms to follow and experience the cost-savings, time-savings, and performance improvements that Confirmit Horizons delivers. About ConfirmitConfirmit is the world’s leading SaaS software vendor for Customer Feedback, Employee Feedback, and Market Research applications. The company has more than 200 employees and offices in Oslo (headquarters), Guildford, London, Moscow, New York, San Francisco, and Yaroslavl. Confirmit’s software is also distributed through partner resellers in Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Santiago, Sydney, and Tokyo. Confirmit targets Global 5000 companies and Market Research agencies worldwide with a wide range of software products for feedback / data collection, panel management, data processing, analysis, and reporting. Customers include British Airways, Countrywide Financial, Credit Suisse, Dow Chemical, Experian, GlaxoSmithKline, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Intrawest, Ipsos, Nielsen, The NPD Group, Safeco Insurance, Statoil Hydro, Symantec, and Virgin Media. About B2B InternationalB2B International is a leading market research consultancy specialising in business-to-business research. With more than 30 years’ direct experience and expertise covering the whole spectrum of industry sectors, B2B International are in a unique position to be able to help you and your business. Housing their team of specialist business-to-business consultants conversant in dozens of languages, their Manchester (UK) headquarters is at the heart of their operations in Europe. The New York (US) office looks after the North and South American markets whilst their Asia-Pacific research projects are managed out of their Beijing, China office.
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