Palo Alto-based cloud data management company Rubrik announced in January that it raised $261m in Series E funding at a $3.3bn valuation. With its previous raise in April 2017 at a valuation of $1.3bn, this latest funding round highlights just how fast Rubrik is growing.

For the second year running, artificial intelligence (AI) was the hottest topic in the world of customer experience (CX) in 2019.

You don’t have to look far to find major players touting AI-driven CX as the next big thing. For example, IBM recently published a report which predicts that AI will unleash a new approach to CX strategy, design and development. IBM calls the shift a ‘seismic’ one, comparing it to the changes that were ushered in during the 1990s at the advent of the internet.

Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact centre and enterprise-class API solutions 8x8 announced this month that it had received a 2019 CRN Tech Innovator Award.

8x8 was recognised for its contact centre solution which includes ACD, IVR, omnichannel, dialer, reporting, customer journey analytics, quality management, speech analytics, surveys and knowledge base, all delivered on one unified platform.

Australian organisations can reduce staff turnover and boost productivity by improving employee experience (EX) and satisfaction.

This was a key finding from a new white paper, which was produced via a collaboration between Ricoh and Adapt CXO Advisory.

If your company is not already stepping up its security, now might be a good time to start because four out of every five (81%) of consumers say they would stop engaging with a brand online following a data breach.

This was a key finding from security company Ping Identity’s (NYSE: PING) 2019 Consumer Survey: Trust and Accountability in the Era of Breaches and Data Misuse report published this month.

Enterprise cloud OS leader, Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), last month confirmed that its Australia and New Zealand (AN/Z) operations continue to see solid growth, driven by an increase in large enterprise and government deals.

The news came as Nutanix unveiled its new flagship Sydney-based office. Fifth Quadrant attended an opening event at the office last month and heard from Jamie Humphrey, Country Manager of Nutanix’s business in AN/Z, Nutanix CFO Duston Williams, Senior Vice President Asia Pacific/Japan (APJ) Matt Young, and Vice President for Marketing APJ Jordan Reizes.

Last month, professional services firm KPMG published its annual Customer Experience Excellence Report 2019, which surveyed 2503 Australian consumers for their views of the performance of 114 domestic and global brands operating Down Under.  

Global big tech companies have dipped their toes in the water with payments and some in China are now expanding into the provision of credit, insurance, savings and other investment products, either directly or in cooperation with established financial institutions.

With the exception of Netflix, the so-called FAANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) and their Chinese counterparts BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), are all exploring or offering financial services.

Personas and empathy mapping are CX tools which share the common goal of helping you to better understand your customers. As the importance of highly personalised and even predictive experiences rises across channels, the ability to leverage these tools is becoming critically important.

2019 Local Government Customer Experience Insights Report Reveals Key CX Issues Facing Local Government 

Three quarters of residents are satisfied with the recent contact they have had with their council, according to new research carried out by Fifth Quadrant. The report outlines which councils had the highest satisfaction percentage, and as it turns out also had the highest first contact resolution (FCR) rate. The study suggests that FCR continues to be a crucial metric within the realm of local council customer experience (‘CX’).