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Reflecting on 2023 with gratitude - What caught your interest

A very happy, healthy and prosperous new year to all of you.

This is also the time to review my blog and to have a look what your favourite posts of 2023 have been. With 23 posts, I admittedly have been somewhat lazy in 2023.

Looking at the top ten read posts in 2023, there is a clear clustering about a few topics, none of them really surprising. There is a genuine interest in CX, ChatGPT, and vendors. 

Again, this is not a surprise. 

Still, there are a few surprises in the list!

So, without further adoo, let’s hear the drumroll for your top five favourite posts on my blog – in ascending order. After all, some suspense cannot harm.

The fifth place gets claimed by my review of ZohoDay 2022 – “Don’t mess with Zoho – A Zohoday 2022 recap”. Yes, you read that right. This is a 2022 post.

Don't mess with Zoho

The fourth place got claimed by another article on Zoho, almost one year younger: Zoho, how a technology company reimagines business software. It is a reflection on the Zoholics 2023 conference in Austin and gives information about how Zoho evolved in the 12 months that lie between these two articles.

Zohoo - How a technology company reimagines business software

The article that your reading placed on position 3 is about the topic of 2023: ChatGPT. Beyond the hype - How to use ChatGPT to create value explores scenarios that help businesses gain value from an implementation of ChatGPT and provides an assessment framework that bases on accuracy of responses and fluency of the generated output.

Beyond the hype - How to use ChatGPT to create value

The second place, according to your interest, goes to an article about Zoho again. Truly Zoho - How capitalism and doing right coincide is about my take on the deeply immersive tour to which Zoho invited some fellow analysts and me in the beginning of 2023. Zoho gave us the unique opportunity to understand how the company leadership and, more importantly, its employees "tick", what drives them - at the company HQ in Chennai and in Tenkasi, where Zoho started the implementation of its Transnational Localism concept.

Truly Zoho - How capitalism and doing right coincide

And here is your number one read article of 2023.

How to tie CX to business success in three simple steps. The article is born from the recognition that the CX industry still did not do a great job of tying business outcomes, business value, to an improvement of CX, but often seemed to look at a CX improvement as a value in itself. In this article, I provide you with a way to change that.

how to tie CX to business success in three simple steps

Honorable mentions to the articles you placed on places six to ten by your interest.

Some of these articles deal with two other companies that shape the CX industry and that are dear to my heart. 

SugarCRM explains how the third wave of CRM adds value. SugarCRM is one of the companies that make one of the most amazing turnarounds in the industry, shedding an open source legacy and regaining considerable mojo.

Relevance, reliability, responsibility are key for AI - the SAP way. Yes, SAP is shaping the CX industry, although the company's efforts and successes remain largely unnoticed.

UX and CRM - How to make them a match. This, again, is a 2022 article. It bases on an interview I did with SAP's Tim Holm.

The Generative AI Game of Thrones - Is OpenAI toast? Well, it looks like that the company is not toast, but it surely made many people think again about the tensions between doing good and commercialization. This particular story is still not told to an end.

Last, but not least, an article that fellow analyst and friend Marshall Lager contributed: Oho Zoho Solo is a reflection on "apps that are specifically targeted to serve entrepreneurs, small business owners in the making, freelancers and similar individuals".

Thanks again to all of you for reading. This means a lot to me. I hope that I continue to be able to catch - and keep - your interest. 

Let me close with a question: Is there anything else that you would like me to cover? Please let me know in the comments.


Comments

Last Year's Top 5 Popular Posts

SAP CRM and SAP Jam - News from CRM evolution

During CRM Evolution 2017 I had the chance of talking with Volker Hildebrand and Anthony Leaper from SAP. Volker is SAP’s Global Vice President SAP Hybris and Anthony is Senior Vice President and Sales GM - Enterprise Social Software at SAP. Topics that we covered were things CRM and collaboration, how and where SAP’s solutions are moving and, of course, the impact that the recent reshuffling in the executive board has. Starting with the latter, there is common agreement, that if at all it is positive as likely to streamline reporting lines and hence decision processes. First things first – after all I am a CRM guy. Having the distinct impression that the SAP Hybris set of solutions is going a good way I was most interested in learning from Volker about how there is going to be a CRM for S4/HANA. SAP’s new generation ERP system is growing at a good clip, and according to the Q1/2017 earnings call, now has 5,800 customers with 400 new customers in the last quarter alone. Many

How to play the long game Zoho style

The news On February 7 and 8 2024, Zoho held its annual ZohoDay conference, along with a pre-conference get together and an optional visit to SpacX’s not-too-far-away Starbase. Our guide, who went by Chief, and is probably best described as a SpaceX-paparazzi was full of facts and anecdotes, which made the visit very interesting although we couldn’t enter Starbase itself. The event was jam-packed with 125 analysts, 17 customer speakers, and of course Zoho staff for us analysts to talk to. This was a chance we took up eagerly. This time, the event took place in MacAllen, TX, instead of Austin, TX. The reason behind this is once more Zoho’s ruralization strategy, transnational localism.  Which gives also one of the main themes of the event. It was more about understanding Zoho than about individual products, although Zoho disclosed some roadmaps. More about understanding Zoho in a second.  The second main theme was customer success and testimonials. Instead of bombarding us with presenta

The Generative AI Game of Thrones - Is OpenAI toast?

The News This has been an exciting weekend for the generative AI industry. On Friday November 17, OpenAI announced that the company fired its figurehead CEO Sam Altmann and appointed Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati as interims CEO in a surprise move. The press release states that Altmann “ was not consistently candid in his communications with the board .” Surprised was apparently not only Sam Altmann, but also the till then chairman of the board Greg Brockman who first stepped down from this position and subsequently quit OpenAI. Investors, notably Microsoft, found themselves blindsided, too – or flat footed depending on the individual point of view. Satya Nadella was compelled to state that Microsoft stays committed to the partnership with OpenAI in a blog post that got updated on November 19, 11:55 pm. All hell broke loose. Microsoft shares took a significant hit. A number of additional senior OpenAI personnel quit. Both, Altman and Brockman, voiced the idea of founding anoth

Salesforce stock tanks after earnings report - a snap analysis

The news On May 29, 2024, Salesforce reported its results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025. Highlights are a total quarterly revenue of $9.133bn US, resembling a year-over-year growth of 11 percent a current remaining performance obligation of $26.4bn US a remaining performance obligation of $53.9B US an operating margin of 18.7 percent. diluted earnings per share of $1.56 The company reported a revenue guidance of $9.2bn - $9.25bn US for the next quarter and a full year guidance of $37.7bn - $38.0bn US, resembling growth rates of 7 – 8 percent and 8 – 9 percent, respectively. With these numbers, Salesforce ended up at the lower end of last quarter’s guidance on the revenue growth side while exceeding the earnings per share projection and slightly lowered the guidance for the fiscal year 2025. The result: The company’s share price dropped from $272 to bottom out at $212. The bigger picture Salesforce is the big gorilla in the CRM and CX industry. The company has surpassed