It's been another busy week in the CX space. The NICE CEO has had his say on Microsoft's CCaaS offering, there's been layoffs and resignations at Five9 and Webex, and Zoom has confirmed its largest ever contact center deal.
Here are the extracts from some of our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
NICE CEO Pours Cold Water on Microsoft’s CCaaS Entrance & Expertise
Barak Eilam, CEO of NICE, has shrugged off Microsoft’s entrance into the CCaaS space.
The CEO did so during an earnings call on Friday, where NICE reported another successful quarter of double-digit revenue growth.
During the call, a financial analyst questioned Eilam on whether NICE is already battling for deals against Microsoft on CCaaS shortlists.
The answer was a resounding “no”, with Eilam seemingly unimpressed with the tech giant’s entrance into the already crowded CCaaS market last month.
“With respect to Microsoft, I know it got a lot of headlines, [but] I must say, we see zero activity in the field,” he said.
We don’t see their go-to-market effective [and] they do not have the domain expertise to speak about CX.
While some may nod their heads at this, there are other points to consider (Read on...).
Five9 to Layoff ≈180 Employees, Aims to Drive “Shareholder Value”
Five9 will reduce its workforce by seven percent, which equates to approximately 180 employees.
The company revealed the news in an SEC filing, claiming that the move is part of a larger plan to increase shareholder value.
Indeed, the filing states that the staff reductions are “part of the Company’s broader efforts to drive balanced, profitable growth, further supporting our positive, long-term outlook and focus on increasing shareholder value.”
It also suggests that Five9 will “substantially complete” actions from within the plan, including making those job cuts, by the end of 2024.
Already, the company has kickstarted that process, notifying all impacted employees yesterday (August 20, 2024).
Before sending out those notifications, Five9 CEO Mike Burkland shared an email to all employees.
In the email, Burkland noted that his and the company’s immediate priority is to support the affected staff members through this transition.
That support includes severance and job transition assistance.
Burkland continued:
I have enormous confidence in Five9 and each of you as we continue to align and execute as one team.
That confidence comes as Five9 revenues continue to grow at a double-digit rate, which is seemingly impressive in the crowded CCaaS market (Read on...).
