Posts Tagged: ‘Digital Solutions’

Creating B2C-Like Online Shopping Experiences in B2B

23. Februar 2023 Posted by Maja Bondensgaard

Creating B2C-like online shopping experiences in B2B

This executive conversation by Digital Commerce 360 with John Beechen, Product Manager, HCL Commerce first appeared in the Digital Commerce 360 B2B E-commerce Quarterly Market Report, Q3, 2022. Download the full report here.

Creating B2C-like online shopping experiences in B2B
 B2B buyers today want a B2C-like online shopping experience. As e-commerce technology has evolved, B2B companies now have more options to offer convenient online shopping options to their customers. But some companies still believe their business is too complex to support easy e-commerce transactions — and they’re at risk of getting passed up by their more forward-thinking competitors. To discuss how the combination of strategy and technology will help B2B companies delight customers with more B2C-like shopping experiences, Digital Commerce 360 B2B spoke with John Beechen, product manager at HCL Commerce.

What are the biggest e-commerce challenges B2B companies face?
B2B companies often don’t have a strong relationship with their customer because they’ve sold through channels outside of their control. Coupled with the death of the third-party cookie, companies need new ways to better understand how their customer wants to buy and the channels they want to buy through — so that they can personalize the experience. This creates complexity.

The other challenge is the investments companies made in their marketing solutions, has resulted in data about customer behavior locked up in silos. To deliver a personalized experience, B2B companies need modern solutions to unlock and serve up the right information and data from those silos in real-time.

What do the most successful B2B companies’ e-commerce strategies look like?
 B2B companies create the most successful e-commerce strategies only after they conduct a full evaluation of their entire sales process and touchpoints with their customers to understand any friction points. If a company launches an e-commerce site but has no idea who their customers are or how they want to buy, their customers will not use their online store. It’s a waste of time and money.

What technologies are critical to B2B ecommerce success?
 B2B e-commerce is just one component of a successful B2B engagement solution. A B2B portal — where customers can log in to get invoices, order history, product literature and more — is a key component. In this portal, to make life easier, the customer should only see the products they are entitled to purchase and their specific contracted price. The buying experience should also provide the customer with options for their preferred method of payment.

B2B companies also need technologies to drive market awareness and encourage deeper engagement through curated experiences. This comes from experiential data, which needs to capture and analyze customer behaviors throughout the entire relationship — differentiating between company-specific data and buyer-specific data.

Another capability that makes it easier for customers is punchout, which allows a buyer to buy from within their own procurement platform, punching out the order to the e-commerce solution. Cloud-native architecture, intelligent search capabilities, inventory visibility, and analytics tools are also important technologies in a successful B2B e-commerce platform.

How can B2B companies get started with their e-commerce initiatives?
They can partner with a technology provider like HCL. We look at a company’s entire sales process and help them understand how they want to compete. Then we usurp their competition by doing something new and unique using technology. HCL’s CX Studio is a free advisory team within HCL Software that helps companies develop their customer experience-related strategies and priorities, based on the company’s business priorities and desired outcomes.

Download the full report here.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Creating B2C-Like Online Shopping Experiences in B2B
Tags:
Categories: Allgemein

Our Partner Philosophy Is a Key Part of Our Roadmap to the Future

23. Februar 2023 Posted by Rajiv Shesh

Our Partner Philosophy Is a Key

When you put our gigantic global footprint of business-critical products and services alongside our fierce commitment to product innovation, it’s tempting to say there’s no company on Earth like HCLSoftware. Without a doubt, the essential part we play in the world economy — and our 360-degree awareness of how our technologies are engineered and used worldwide — give us a unique perspective to match our unique structure and role.

But in my view, there’s another factor whose impact on our business may be just as great — our partner philosophy, which shapes our strategy, helps to define our day-to-day operations, and provides a key element of our roadmap to the future.

We recently gave our partners an updated view of our approach to partnership at the HCLSoftware Business Partner Executive Summit, held in Barcelona last November. Without trying to recap everything shared at that remarkable event (which would require a documentary, not a blog post), I’d like to zoom in on a few aspects of that approach.

A key takeaway from that summit was HCLSoftware’s emphasis on achieving scale and growth together with our partners — using “together” in the strongest possible sense. The new partner program we presented in Barcelona, the engagement platform we’ve rolled out, and our 50/50 co-marketing approach all reflect this — as does the partner philosophy that underlies them.

Our Partner Philosophy Is a Key

There are two key aspects of our partner philosophy that define our approach.

The first sounds straightforward, but in fact goes much deeper than it might first appear: We empower our partners to create value for their customers. Briefly put, that means giving them the right positioning, the right training, the right pricing, and the knowledge and readiness required to interact with their customers effectively and at high velocity.

It also means structuring our teams to give them maximum incentive to help each partner succeed — including think-outside-the-box measures like evaluating our own sales teams based in part on the partner teams’ success. Our teams are fully invested in each partner’s unique concerns, customer experience, and sales outcomes, and they go the extra mile to deliver on that investment.

The second is something that’s sometimes called “subservient leadership” — and it’s essential to grasping our “Partners First” mantra. In a nutshell, it means leadership through listening, trust, and empathy — and using the deeper understanding that results to remove obstacles, provide resources, and open doors for our partners. Mind you, this doesn’t mean abdicating true leadership or relinquishing the power to guide or inspire. It does mean informing that guidance with a detailed knowledge of the partner’s concerns — and, equally important, those of their customers — and making those concerns our first priority.

We don’t do this just to be nice (although there’s nothing wrong with that), but because it works. For starters, it puts us in a better position to execute on strategy. What’s more, this emphasis on transparency and value creation multiplies the value created, often exponentially. In a command-and-control approach, directives are issued and executed from the top down, with value created at that single point of execution. But with team members empowered to engage responsively with partners and their customers, those points of value-creation are multiplied, and marketplace successes are magnified — for everyone.

HCLSoftware’s core values of trust, transparency, and value creation are the essential reason we’re able to put partners first in this way. Our leadership is committed to providing the tools and knowledge clients need to succeed with their customers — both to our own teams and to our partners. That lets us engage our partners in new and innovative ways that will multiply their success — and our own.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Our Partner Philosophy Is a Key Part of Our Roadmap to the Future
Tags: , ,
Categories: Allgemein

BigFix Certification

17. Februar 2023 Posted by Angela Wood

bigfix_certification

Show your skills! Take your BigFix 10 Certification Exam

HCL Software is excited to announce that you can now earn the certification for HCL BigFix Platform 10! This certification exam is a way to confirm the knowledge and skills required to plan, install, upgrade, configure, troubleshoot, and performance tune BigFix v10.

This blog will provide insight into the new certification available, the value of having one, and how to prepare for the exam so that you be successful.

Who should take this exam?

This intermediate level certification exam is for individuals who have the following:

  • Administrator-level practical experience with HCL BigFix 10
  • Basic knowledge of operating systems and Directory Servers
  • Intermediate knowledge of networking
  • Troubleshooting procedures

 

What skills are measured in this certification?

  • A HCLSoftware Certified BigFix Platform 10 Professional must demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform planning, installation, upgrade, configuration, management, operations, performance tuning and troubleshooting on HCL BigFix platform v10.

 

Why it’s important

Take your credibility to the next level

According to Pearson Vue’s 2021 Value of IT Certification Report, candidates who earned an IT certification experienced realize increased confidence in their abilities, greater determination to succeed, and feel more respected by colleagues. These personal achievements may translate to accomplishments such as pay raises and promotions. There’s no doubt that earning your certification is worth the investment.

Earn Your Digital Badge

HCLSoftware have partnered with Credly to identify certification outcomes required for a badge. The badge is issued and managed through the Credly digital badging platform. The technology Credly uses is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by Instructional Media Services (IMS) Global, which enables you to easily manage, share and verify your competencies digitally.

Showcase Your HCLSoftware Product Skills

Representing your skills as a badge gives you a way to share your certification achievements online in a way that is simple, trusted, and can be easily verified in real time. Your certification provides employers and peers with concrete evidence of the skills you possess and have demonstrated to earn your badge. You’ll be able to share a direct link to your certification, and add it to your resume, email signature, or to professional profiles on social media.
 

How to certify

How do I earn this certification?

To earn this certification, you will need to take and pass the HCLSoftware Certified Professional – BigFix Platform 10 exam. (HCL-BF-PRO-10). Exam formats, scoring and exam content can be found in the exam guide.

How do I prepare for the exam?

It is best practice to leverage the following resources for the BigFix Platform 10 Professional Certification exam.  These resources and training below are not required before taking the exam but are highly recommended to prepare and learn from BigFix experts.

 

Exam at a glance

Level: Professional
Length: 75 minutes to complete the exam
Cost: $150 USD
Format: 60 questions provided in multiple choice or multiple response
Delivery method: Pearson VUE testing center or an online proctored exam
Available Language:  English

Exam Registration: https://academy.hcltechsw.com/hcl-software-certification-program
For more information, visit https://academy.hcltechsw.com/hcl-software-certification-program.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für BigFix Certification
Tags: , ,
Categories: Allgemein

Find AppScan at Global AppSec Dublin 2023

14. Februar 2023 Posted by Courtney Coleman

Global AppSec Dublin 2023

We are excited to announce that AppScan will be showcasing its innovative solutions at the upcoming OWASP Global AppSec Dublin 2023, where attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the latest advancements in cybersecurity and network protection. Our team of experts will be on hand to demonstrate the software’s features, answer questions, and provide insights into the current state of the cybersecurity industry.

Whether you’re a small business owner, a system administrator, or a cybersecurity professional, this event is the perfect opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and discover the latest solutions in this rapidly evolving field. We invite you to stop by our booth (G16) at the Dublin Convention Center to learn more about AppScan and how it can help you stay protected against the latest cybersecurity threats.

Register here!

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Find AppScan at Global AppSec Dublin 2023
Tags: , ,
Categories: Allgemein

What You’ll Learn in AppScan’s February Innovation Workshop

14. Februar 2023 Posted by Courtney Coleman

AppScan's February Innovation Workshop

Join Us at the AppScan Workshop: February 28, 2023

This month, we are pleased to present the second installment of our Integrated tools innovation workshops. This event will feature technical-assistant-guided, hands-on opportunities to see our integrated tools in action. This workshop will show you how to integrate with our product, HCL Accelerate, which automates processes in your release lifecycle and gives you insights into your DevOps processes.

February 28th: HCL AppScan on Cloud + Accelerate

AppScan delivers a suite of security testing tools, including static, dynamic and interactive testing for web, mobile and open-source software. It detects pervasive security vulnerabilities and facilitates remediation. AppScan implements shift-left security by eliminating vulnerabilities during development–before software is deployed. Comprehensive management capabilities enable security professionals, developers, DevOps and compliance officers to continuously monitor the security posture of their application and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements.

As an add-on component to AppScan, HCL Accelerate is a data-driven value stream management platform that automates the delivery and interpretation of data so businesses can make faster, more strategic decisions and streamline processes.

By integrating with the tools you’re already using, HCL Accelerate aggregates data from across your DevOps pipeline to give you actionable insights so you can get the most out of your DevOps investments. Mark your calendars, and we’ll see you there!

Register Here

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für What You’ll Learn in AppScan’s February Innovation Workshop
Tags: , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

Unpacking the Future: 2023 Predictions for eCommerce

10. Februar 2023 Posted by Pete Wharton

2023 Predictions for eCommerce

The commerce world held its collective breath as Forrester prepared its annual predictions for the 2023 market — and with good reason. 2022 brought new levels of market volatility, and the new year seems to promise more of the same, with shortages and supply-chain complications still topping the list of concerns.

The sub-title of Forrester’s future-facing report for commerce predictions 2023 is blunt: “Commerce Operations Will Take Center Stage as Digital Businesses Dial Back Their Promises” — and its findings set the tone for the new year with a predicted shift in the way companies do business.

Forrester expects companies to “prioritize commerce moments they can prove work” and to “rethink technology investments to optimize experiences as well as inventory and fulfillment” in protecting their bottom lines in the new year.

Buyer’s remorse (executive remix)

Forrester’s take on the factors behind this rethinking is instructive­­. In Forrester’s succinct estimation, “One-third of digital businesses will regret playing ‘software company’” in 2023.

This may sound like snark, but it’s deadly accurate. Businesses survived the pandemic by investing in technologies that addressed the crisis of the moment, with system sustainability a distant second on the list of careabouts. Now that the sky has cleared, those urgent-care remedies may no longer be an ideal fit — and over time, the high initial cost may go even higher.

As a result, “nearly half (44%) of software decision-makers whose organization has or plans to adopt B2C commerce solutions tell [Forrester] they are evaluating or plan to replace their commerce platforms.” In 2023, Forrester adds, “a third of digital businesses will abandon or restructure midstream projects that prove too complex to execute or maintain.” So, if you’re a decision-maker who is now rethinking your B2B and B2C solutions, welcome to the club.

The fact is that many businesses can no longer afford to staff up an entire IT department to churn out code, customize platforms, deploy hot fixes, and generally act as an independent software company to keep customers happy in real-time. Resources are scarce, monolithic platform solutions are on life support, and finding IT hires to maintain pieced-together solutions is a never-ending challenge. The hour of reckoning has come, and decision-makers are looking for a new path that solves the business problems of today without the costs and concerns of pandemic-era approaches.

Refocusing on business fundamentals

So, what’s the solution?

As Forrester points out, swinging between extremes can be a massively costly mistake. “Some digital businesses are overcorrecting as they abandon proprietary and legacy tech to embrace the most custom and flexible — but massively complex — commerce tech ecosystems,” the report notes. “From custom user interfaces (UIs) to innumerable integrations, these systems require firms to orchestrate — and maintain — every aspect of their tech ecosystem.”

That sort of overreach will have painful consequences, Forrester predicts — consequences that could prove business-critical for many organizations: “In their second and third years, new implementations will fail, and custom UIs will crumble from post-launch neglect.” Not a pretty picture, to say the least.

In a word, implies Forrester, the key is balance. According to the Forrester report, “digital businesses will pivot to reengage with commerce solutions that balance ecosystem management, business user experiences, and Function-First Tech Buying enablement.”

In HCL’s opinion, this sort of balanced approach — one that accounts for customers who expect one-touch digital simplicity as well as key business drivers like system sustainability, data security, and ROI — enables organizations to refocus on the core capabilities and assets that make them profitable. Adopting such an approach means moving past the crisis-driven “just get it done” model of years past and looking forward to a new emphasis on business fundamentals.

Businesses need the tools and resources to get the job done right and meet their customers where they are — sustainably, securely, and profitably. With e-commerce logistics setting a new tone, HCLSoftware can help you make the shift to a custom-fit tech solution that works for you — and make 2023 a wonderful new year.

Find out more about HCL Commerce here.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Unpacking the Future: 2023 Predictions for eCommerce
Tags: ,
Categories: Allgemein

Announcing the HCL Ambassador Class of 2023

8. Februar 2023 Posted by Maria Nordin

HCL Ambassador Class of 2023

HCL Digital Solutions is proud to highlight recipients of the much-anticipated HCL Ambassador Class of 2023 award! Congratulations!

This list is indicative of some of our most valued ambassadors who work hard to spread the word about HCL’s Digital Solutions portfolio. Each year, we feature individuals from companies of all sizes—in every industry—who go above and beyond in their commitment to using, advocating for, and sharing knowledge of HCL Digital Solutions products.

HCL Ambassadors gain recognition by engaging in some of these HCL-sponsored activities:

  • Conducting community calls to action
  • Featuring HCL’s DS portfolio on social networking forums
  • Participating in our HCLSoftware bi-annual calls with senior executives
  • Hosting HCL DS events, campaigns, and more…

Just for being such valued customers, there are many exclusive club benefits for making the HCL Ambassadors list! As HCL DS brand ambassadors, our winners are given:

  • Access to exclusive “invite-only” beta programs and events
  • Priority escalation of support tickets to subject matter expert engineers
  • Free-of-charge licenses to use HCLSoftware products
  • Enhanced exposure of published content through syndication into the HCL Ambassadors blog
  • HCL Ambassadors-branded merchandise

If you’re not on this year’s list, but would like to be, don’t worry! There are plenty of opportunities to make the HCL Ambassadors list for next year! Access to the program is decided annually following a nomination and judging process. These typically take place in October and November, with the announcement of the next year’s HCL Ambassadors in December. The HCL Ambassadors Class of 2023 term runs from January 2023 through to December 2023.

Hoping to see your name on the HCL Ambassadors Class of 2024 list? More details can be found on the HCL Ambassadors hub.

Congratulations to everyone who has been recognized this year! We truly appreciate your support, from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for honoring us, as we honor you!

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Announcing the HCL Ambassador Class of 2023
Tags:
Categories: Allgemein

The Benefits of Headless Commerce: The Era of Selling Online

7. Februar 2023 Posted by Brian Rossi

Benefits of Headless Commerce

Traditional e-commerce platforms revolutionized the way companies sold products and services a few decades ago. Businesses may expect that headless commerce will carry that tradition by providing organizations with new and creative front-end sales strategies. It is critical to understand how headless commerce differs from traditional e-commerce architecture before learning about the benefits of headless (or head-optional) commerce.

Businesses desired a single platform that could support online sales from beginning to end when e-commerce began to take off. This covered front-end activities like pre-built website plugins, phone and chat integrations, and backend tasks like digitizing backend procedures, such as: customer login and registration record keeping, product and order management, payment processing, and shipping charges.

Many web developers discovered there needed to be more pre-packaged front-end solutions as e-commerce developed. Additionally, because the front-end and backend processes were linked, it was impossible to incorporate new, original, and customizable approaches to draw in and keep customers. Instead, organizations can connect custom-built front-end processes to the backend using an API built into a headless commerce platform.

Benefits of headless (or head-optional) commerce

Businesses should regard headless digital commerce as a development of conventional e-commerce. Even though early e-commerce platforms provided front-end capabilities that enabled quick deployments for firms with minimal prior experience in online sales, many organizations now employ highly skilled software developers who want to do away with the front-end learning curve.

Critical benefits of headless commerce, which hold over legacy e-commerce platforms:

Limitless Integrations

Headless solutions offer effortless integrations with the ability to link several tools via an API. APIs facilitate seamless data connections and transfers while making it simple for software systems to communicate with one another. The possibilities for how you can use the data are increased by this adaptability, which also removes limitations. The backend architecture is where most e-commerce functionality is found; however, if you want to enhance the user experience, you can use an API to fix such issues. This separates the user experience from the backend.

True omnichannel experience

Authentic omnichannel experience: Whether a customer buys on a computer, a mobile device, a chatbot, or another digital platform, omnichannel sales are possible. Although many traditional e-commerce sites make this promise, it is only sometimes valid. A company is out of luck if it wishes to establish a new digital sales channel but their legacy e-commerce platform can’t support it.

With a headless e-commerce system, a company’s in-house developers can quickly and conveniently create a front-end for a new digital sales channel. The potential to incorporate new digital channels into the overall e-commerce experience can be effective given the development of intelligent displays, interactive digital signage, and other kinds of IoT focused on business.

Complete front-end customization.

Within the limitations of front-end tools, traditional e-commerce systems allow for limited customization. Headless products provide endless front-end opportunities. This includes IoT-enabled tools ready for rapid integration into the headless CX platform. Examples include IoT-based loyalty programs, intelligent cross-selling, and proximity marketing.

Personalized customer experience

Customers prefer personalized shopping experiences that meet their requirements and preferences. Organizations can adjust front-end promotions to reflect customer tastes and preferences using a headless e-commerce platform. Personalize the product and content experiences for businesses searching for methods to stand out from the competition. This entails introducing individualized recommendations, custom purchasing preferences, and promotions targeted at the user based on previous purchase history. It strengthens the relationship between the customer and the business and is known to increase customer lifetime value.

Increased conversion rates

Creating engagement around the products or services it sells, an e-commerce platform can lower the percentage of website bounces or shopping cart abandonment rates. The whole point of headless commerce is being capable of delegating personalization, adaptability, and creativity to business partners or in-house programmers. This can contribute to creating that excitement in different ways, like offering customized promotions, creating interactive customer experiences that result in discounts—like participating in a quiz or game on the website to receive discounts—and out-of-the-box suggestions. Conversion rates across all channels are frequently increased due to this interactivity.

Long-term cost savings

It is true that to construct new and distinctive digital sales channels, front-end development expenses will rise. Still, one must also consider the strength of this approach in terms of customer acquisition and customer retention. Developers will spend less on sales and marketing efforts if they add more chances for customization to the front end of e-commerce platforms.

Conclusion

Headless commerce helps you provide a genuine omnichannel, personalized experience, resulting in a more vital competitive advantage, higher conversions, and more satisfied customers. It empowers you to make changes on the front end and respond swiftly to customers’ changing needs providing an improved customer experience.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für The Benefits of Headless Commerce: The Era of Selling Online
Tags: , , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

The Biggest B2B eCommerce Trends Emerging in 2023

7. Februar 2023 Posted by Brian Rossi

Biggest B2B eCommerce Trends Emerging in 2023

The B2B industry is seeing more digitalization, which means companies are using the online medium to improve revenues. It started before the pandemic, and revenues have gradually gained momentum over time. It is predicted that the global B2B e-commerce market could reach US $18.57 trillion by 2026. (Source: Global News Wire)

Several brands have found e-commerce an essential medium to meet their business objectives faster. It started with several brands revamping their websites to garner more attention. However, they gradually saw the online medium as a great way to increase revenues. The top B2B e-commerce trends are all about website optimization to enhance user experience, which results in better performance.

Additional investments in technology

Advanced technologies are becoming the fulcrum of e-commerce businesses. Digitization can modernize processes and provide more robust capabilities. Continuous enhancement of workflows helps easier integration with other systems. More B2B platforms opt for headless commerce for personalized online shopping experiences.

One of the critical trends in B2B e-commerce is the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) across e-commerce platforms. It can help analyze customer preferences and help us come up with personalized offers. Predictive analytics is helping B2B platforms anticipate future trends and enhance operational speeds. However, businesses must research properly to know the technologies they can adopt for their platform.

Upgrading legacy systems

One of the significant challenges of any online platform is to keep its systems updated. Elect to receive notifications to inform you when updates are available and upgrade at the earliest. It helps to have upgrades in place, as you can leverage the benefits of added features. It can plug vulnerabilities, if any.

If you upgrade at a later stage, you may find it difficult to find support for earlier versions of the platform as they may no longer be available. Integrating with the new version can be challenging, so your B2B platform may be liable to cyberattacks.

Personalizing the online experience

Studies show that customers prefer a personalized experience when making their buying decisions. There is a need to move beyond the basic levels of customization to bring more revenue. Customers now need real-time inventory information, which includes a high level of integration across multiple workflows.

Advanced software can help B2B e-commerce businesses provide real-time order simulation to guarantee repeat customers by learning buying habits and proposing customized offers. Real-time customer-specific algorithms enhance personalized pricing capabilities. The intuitive offers personalized for the customer increase their likeliness to spend more and to make return purchases.

Move towards social commerce

B2C businesses have utilized the social commerce scenario to the fullest. Gradually, B2B businesses began using the platform to enhance their outreach also. Social commerce is among the new B2B e-commerce trends. This requires targeted campaigns to reach out to this audience in a timely manner.

Several prospects are using social media to learn details about various solutions. Studies show that at least 46% of B2B businesses refer to social media channels when starting their buying journey. (Source: Gartner) You can select platforms based on your portfolio and use different forms of content to bring more users to your social media channel.

Deliver customer orders faster

Order fulfillment is among the critical emerging trends in B2B e-commerce for 2023. Delivery speed helps in deciding customer loyalty and future purchases. And efficient fulfillment processes help companies stand apart from their peers. Digitized processes can make the order-to-cash cycle less cumbersome.

Advanced order management software can help B2B companies manage orders faster by handling multiple orders simultaneously. Another way would be the ability to centralize inventory information and mitigate complexities across the supply chain.

The business is becoming portal-centric

With the need to target B2B customers online, there is an increased focus on the customer portal. It provides customers access to view their history with the business. It starts with having the product catalog in order. Moreover, you can use critical features to track customer orders, view invoices, and make payments online.

You must integrate your portal with a robust ERP solution that is scalable based on your business growth. More businesses are coming up with portals with advanced self-service features. Salespersons can also use it to up-sell or cross-sell products to customers. By putting the experience in the customer’s hands, it improves the customer-business relationship.

Data-driven decision-making is the norm

All businesses have a goal: to increase revenues. The advent of next-gen Big Data and analytics solutions can help B2B e-commerce companies make informed decisions. More and more often, companies use analytics to understand customer behavior and develop targeted strategies to spur growth. It helps unlock the full potential of data and helps create customized bundles.

The use of data helps to outpace changes and react faster to the business environment. It can also help you stay ahead of peers and create strategies on-the-fly to have a competitive edge. B2B online companies use AI/ML modeling techniques to use intelligent operations and enhance their capability to service customers.

More instances of using augmented reality

There are various ways to use innovative technologies to attract visitors. One of the new B2B e-commerce trends is utilizing augmented reality (AR) features. It can help increase conversions progressively and ensure better customer experiences. Studies show that B2B buyers consider their experience a critical factor in purchasing decisions.

Using augmented reality can help customers save precious time in their buying decisions. People can have varying perceptions of a product. Augmented reality can enhance buyer confidence and create value for the customer. Visitors can interact with the features virtually and assess the product’s capabilities in real-time.

Incorporating UI/UX best practices

Google introduced Core Web Vitals as a parameter to rank websites. B2B companies are also optimizing their e-commerce platform to enhance their digital presence. With increased mobile use and traffic, businesses are making their websites mobile-friendly to cater to smartphones accessing B2B portals for an improved customer experience.

They also use the services of UI/UX experts to ensure smooth navigation for users. They consider the customer journey in detail and devise suitable ways to increase conversions. Adequate CTAs are placed in proper places to help visitors across the buyer’s journey ultimately aiding in their purchasing decisions.

Addressing next-gen B2B e-commerce trends with HCL Commerce

Businesses must have a content management solution to ensure efficient market time. Several enterprises entrust HCL Commerce to manage their e-commerce platform for B2B. A Headless Commerce module uses REST APIs to enhance customer experience. It can efficiently help companies manage a cross-channel strategy while providing a powerful omnichannel platform.

HCL Commerce manages product information using a flexible catalog management module. Most contemporary B2B platforms have a powerful search engine on the e-commerce platform and data insights for better customization. It is built using open standards and uses cloud technologies to ease deployment, making operations more straightforward.

Conclusion

B2B online businesses are continuously trying to optimize their online platform to stay ahead of their peers. As buyer expectations change, companies must sync with the changing behavior and quickly make changes to the platform. There are several such factors, and you must consider them to ensure you achieve your objectives faster.

There are several ways to optimize the B2B platform, but businesses must incorporate a few critical trends. Utilize the services of HCL Commerce to ensure increased revenue potential by taking advantage of the right optimization tools.

References:

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für The Biggest B2B eCommerce Trends Emerging in 2023
Tags: , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

The Future of App Development: Volt MX v9.5 Release

16. Januar 2023 Posted by Andrew Manby

Tomorrow, HCL Software will be releasing our two-part webinar covering the latest release of Volt MX. You can still pre-register here. There’s something for everyone in our development community in the new v9.5 release.

Get an intro to the powerful capabilities of our platform, or dive right into the latest features and demos. Choose your adventure with our two-part webinar that you can access anytime.

If you’re unfamiliar with Volt MX, it is an industry-leading multiexperience low code platform. We’ve helped organizations across industries build app solutions that solve customer and citizen engagement and employee experience challenges. Some examples include:

  • Powering citizen experience for over 2 million residents of a middle eastern country
  • Helping a top insurance company develop an app to support more than 3,000 agents
  • Partnering with a global consumer goods company to localize their app across 30 countries

Our success stories consistently show how Volt MX helps companies meet their customers where they live digitally and reduce complexity and time to deliver solutions. Volt MX v9.5 delivers the following capabilities.

Super and micro app development: The most notable feature of the new v9.5 release is the support for super and micro app development. Super apps are built as an ecosystem of micro apps that cover a range of uses. Through super apps, businesses create more value and “stickiness” for their end users by providing personalized, seamless, and engaging experiences — all in one, connected digital journey. IT teams also benefit from better use of development resources, less interdependency, and ease of maintenance of mini apps for themselves and working with third parties. HCL is the largest MX Low-code platform vendor to add support super app development.

>> Read our detailed blog post about why super apps matter to your business here.

Automate complex processes: Enhancements to Volt MX workflows enable users to build and automate complex processes easily and visually and support various complex use cases, such as parallel workflows, without constraints. Total workflow automation is supported without needing other business process software, delivering significant time savings for end users and development teams while reducing cost and complexity.

automate complex processes

Let’s see this in a real-world scenario. With Volt MX, a streamlined airline maintenance workflow can use parallel workflows to:

  • trigger multiple actions (i.e., send a notification and assign a task when a report is received)
  • assign tasks to multiple owners (both a janitor and plumber are notified)
  • close a report when all tasks in the parallel sections are complete

Fast and error-free deployment. Volt MX eliminates the need for manual app testing by using built-in automated test processes directly within the developer experience. Begin running automated tests at the start of the app lifecycle rather than at later stages of development. Developer benefits include:

  • Higher quality code, ensuring the best user experience for end users
  • Time and cost savings during the QA and testing process
  • Easier combination into CI/CD processes, preventing bad code from merging into the main code

Increase collaboration between development teams and business units. The Volt MX App Viewer allows development teams to generate previews of apps on mobile and tablet devices and collect feedback from business stakeholders before publishing. This results in faster prototyping, iterations, and deployment, eliminating the need to re-publish through app stores.

Developer teams can generate a code for anyone in the organization (e.g., business users, QA team) to review the app in the Viewer. Team members can leave comments within the app, which developer teams can view directly on Volt Iris IDE.

the future of app development

Additional release features and enhancements:

  • Containers: New deployment options include Kubernetes and Docker containers in AWS, Azure, GCP, and Red Hat OpenShift. Unlike our competitors, HCL offers you the freedom to choose the deployment that meets your needs for data privacy and security.
  • Accessibility support: Widget enhancements to support WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliance for Volt MX apps.
  • App rebranding: Enhancements to dynamically change the look of the app, including font and color updates
  • Home screen widgets: Support to add widgets to iOS home screen part of iOS 16
  • Support on the latest hardware and operating system releases:
    • Mobile: iOS 16 and Android 13
    • Windows: Volt Iris is supported on Windows 11
    • Apple: Support for Apple Monterey OS and M Series Macs

Want to learn more about this release?

Want to learn more about Volt MX?

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für The Future of App Development: Volt MX v9.5 Release
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

HCL Domino Admins: Deploy HCL Nomad v1.0.6 Update Today!

9. Januar 2023 Posted by Thomas Hampel

Browser Updates Necessitate a New Domino Nomad Release

Web browser updates happen often, typically to enable new features, but more importantly, to patch ongoing security vulnerabilities. For instance, Google Chrome’s latest release addresses 37 known security issues. While new browser releases are necessary, these releases can sometimes impact our product performance unexpectedly.

As an example, new browser versions recently released by Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge broke Nomad for their respective web browsers. In less than a week, our development team fixed, successfully tested, and released Nomad v1.0.6 to address these issues. You can read more about the problem resolution in this article.

What else is included in Nomad v1.0.6?

Read all about it in the What’s New, but some key things to highlight:

  • The Nomad Server is now available for Domino v12.0.2, pre-bundled with the Nomad for Web v1.0.6 client. The Nomad server is a simple add-on, installed on your Domino server, allowing Nomad to access your Domino applications.
  • The new Restyle feature, included in Domino v12.0.2, lets you easily modernize the look and feel of your Domino applications, and now Nomad supports Restyle for Navigators and Launch options too.

Use your Domino apps to work anywhere

By now, we hope you and your Notes and Domino application users are running HCL Nomad in a browser, tablet, or mobile device. All those sleek applications, developed by you over the years to increase business efficiency, can now be run unchanged in a web browser, tablet, or mobile device without the full Notes client. Take your Domino apps with you, be more efficient on the go, and work from anywhere.

Can Domino do something better or different for you?

Don’t forget — we value your input! Please do not hesitate to share your ideas in Aha! Ideas portal for improving Nomad or Restyle … or tell us what to focus on next. You can also search for ideas and upvote them to confirm it is a promising idea. We look forward to hearing from you.

Start using Nomad today!

Simply download Nomad for web 1.0.6 from the HCLSoftware license and downloads portal and get going today. Or, if you do not have the admin rights or skills yet, try our app in the HCL Sandbox and play around with it. You can create a new app from your template and make sure it works in Nomad. You can also try out our app Restyle capability to see how your app looks in those new clothes. Go on! We know you are dying to try it.

Upgrade your Nomad experience now with our latest release and experience all the benefits Nomad has to offer. Want to learn more about Nomad capabilities? Click here for more info.

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für HCL Domino Admins: Deploy HCL Nomad v1.0.6 Update Today!
Tags: , ,
Categories: Allgemein

Why Super Apps Matter to Your Business

13. Dezember 2022 Posted by Andrew Manby

Why Super Apps Matter to Your Business

To be perfectly honest, we’re having a hard time containing our excitement about next week’s Volt MX release v9.5, code named “Curie”. Whether you’re new to Volt MX or you’re already a customer, our two-part webinar event will show you how our multiexperience, low code platform for professional developers empowers you to build innovative, secure app solutions that solve your customer and employee experience challenges. And by pre-registering, you will be among the first to get a link to watch the release unfold.

One of the most exciting innovations we’re introducing is support for super and micro app development. This blog post will show how it can both supercharge your multiexperience app development strategy and harness new opportunities for your business.

Super Apps in the Real World

If you’re not familiar with the definition of a micro or super app, you might be surprised to know that you’re probably already using and interacting with one today. For instance, many companies today already have a B2E portal, which is often a super app that bundles several individual micro apps. In these portals, employees can access different enterprise systems, which can handle such functions as internal communications, requests for time off, or claims for expenses.

manage flights

Similarly, in the B2C world, a major airline might deploy a super app with multiple microapps that serve a specific functionality: searching for a flight, booking a flight, checking in, checking flight status, integrating with a third-party ride-sharing service and so on.

The user experience of micro apps within super apps should be seamless; but sometimes it’s not. A bad user experience in an airline app might include being redirected out of the app for features such as viewing inflight entertainment options or gaining Wi-Fi access. This usually happens when a company chooses to create single monolith apps that are more complex to maintain and evolve. Or worse, companies might utilize multiple standalone or progressive web apps, often resulting in disconnected digital experiences for the user. These shortcomings aren’t just frustrating for the customer…they’re bad for business.

Now that you get the idea, let’s get down to some definitions.

  • Micro apps: Like a microservice, microapps are single-purpose apps designed to help users perform a single, specific task quickly and efficiently. They support rich media and other semi-complex functions but are faster and easier to create than traditional web and multiexperience applications and are easy to reuse.
  • Super apps: A web-based or mobile application that provides end users with a set of core features and gives access to independently created micro apps. In effect, a super app serves as a platform to deliver a micro app ecosystem.

Benefits for Your IT team

With this release, not only can Volt MX enable micro apps to act as your gateway to super app development, but it also enables increased agility and productivity for your IT team and your greater organization. That means that you can do more–in less time! Consider the following benefits:

  • Improved productivity for dev teams — “Bite-size” pieces of development allow for better use of dev resources and allow the creation of parallel teams to tackle different apps, significantly reducing inter-squad dependencies.
  • Enhanced ease of maintenance — Micro app strategies can make an Agile development team far more impactful in both initial app development and ongoing app support. It enables easier patching, facilitates the addition of new features, and streamlines the debugging process.
  • Adherence to coding best practices — Building micro apps entails coding to an architectural pattern—which means that once your reference architecture is defined, any developer expanding on the existing code base can just build on that foundation without having to decipher what was done before. That ease of development also promotes easy reuse of micro app components into other applications. The reference architecture also helps define security and data protection requirements for microapps by establishing an ecosystem governance reinforced with shared platform capabilities.

Benefits for Your Business

If you’re not already building superapps, you might be falling behind the competition. In fact, the whole landscape is changing at a rapid pace. By 2027, Gartner predicts that “more than 50% of the global population will be daily active users of mulitple superapps.”

The time to change is now, and it’s clear that building super apps into your app dev strategy will create both business and technology opportunities. Consider how making the switch is mutually beneficial:

  • Better user experience and digital journey – Super apps should be built as a platform to deliver consistent and personalized app experiences. This allows for a seamless, all-in-one app experience with no switching between PWAs.
  • Increased ROI — With super apps, your company can create a “stickier app” by enriching it with an entire ecosystem of microapps from third-party services, finding capabilities and services that pair well with your current app offerings.

Also, by offering your employees an easy developer experience with convenient dev tools, you can keep your IT team happy, which means better retention and the attraction of new talent excited to be in the forefront of app development.

From a business perspective, super apps help to increase engagement with your customers, partners, and employees with functionality that will keep them coming back for more.

To learn more about how these and other new capabilities in Volt MX can supercharge your developer productivity, don’t forget to pre-register here [https://hclsw.co/vmx-curie] for the release webinar on January 17. We’ll see you there!

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für Why Super Apps Matter to Your Business
Tags: , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

New Domino REST APIs Are Now Available

8. Dezember 2022 Posted by Adam Gartenberg

We’re pleased to announce that the Domino REST APIs are now generally available for download by Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) and Domino CEO Communications customers on active support in their Domino v12.0.2 “Danube” environment.

Known during development and beta testing as Project Keep, these contemporary REST APIs increase the number of REST APIs available to Domino deployments from nine to over 100, allowing you to extend your Domino applications with the development tools of your choice. You can broaden the audience for your Domino development without sacrificing Domino’s security or ease of deployment. And with this new REST API access to Domino servers and databases, you can securely make Domino servers available for pro-code development. Developers can expose Domino data in the form of standardized Open-API-based methods while maintaining control of which data will be made available for view or update.

How can it be used?

To give just a few examples of how the REST APIs can be used, you can apply them to:

  • Web applications: Display job openings stored in a Domino database on the company website, validating allowable postings without requiring Java or JavaScript skills.
  • Mobile Applications: Use Volt MX to create a front-end mobile app for the travel approval system run on Domino. Employees can enter their travel requests, and when managers authenticate, they will see and can complete the workflow approval.
  • Application Integration: Integrate contracts and other customer data stored in Domino with SalesForce CRM, giving sales representatives a single view of all necessary information.

What is it? 

The Domino REST APIs allow for pro-code development through secure access to HCL Domino servers and databases, allowing you to use the programming language and framework of your choice — while maintaining the reliability and deployability of your Domino data and applications. They run alongside the server and allow you to expose — securely and easily — your Domino data in the form of standardized Open-API-based methods. Using a browser-based admin UI, application owners can define which data will be made available for view or update on a REST API. The APIs extend the Domino principles of reader/author document access definitions into the world of Internet protocols.

The Domino REST APIs also includes the Swagger UI, an API explorer that allows the visualization and interaction with APIs without having any of the actual implementation logic in place. The APIs are automatically generated from an OpenAPI (formerly Swagger) specification with visual documentation, making it easier to implement the back-end code later.

What’s special about the new Domino REST APIs?

  • Secure by default, with fine granular controls per form, field, and user basis
  • Implements latest open standards
  • HTTP/2-ready, for server-to-server or client-to-server communication
  • API-first design with full interactive documentation
  • Low barrier to entry, as it runs on a Domino server and/or your Notes client
  • Admin UI and Postman samples included
  • State-of-the-art JWT access token integrated with your existing IdP infrastructure

What can be accessed via the Domino REST APIs?

You can access content like views, documents, and fields as well as agents and ACL settings. And, of course, featuring DQL queries to quickly access the data you are looking for.

Built-in declarative security ensures the API will only allow access to fields the caller is authorized to see or update. This can effectively prevent computed fields from being overwritten and limits participants in a workflow to updating their fields only.

Where to find it

The Domino REST APIs are now available as a prepacked, ready-to-use Docker container to Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) and Domino CEO Communications customers on active support. The download is now available in the “HCL Domino” product line category on our License and Download Portal. Please visit the documentation here to learn more and to set up your test environment. Note: The REST APIs only work with Domino v12.0.2 “Danube” and higher. (Hint: If you haven’t upgraded yet, now’s the time!)

domino admin

application management

 

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für New Domino REST APIs Are Now Available
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories: Allgemein

HCL Domino Leap 1.1 – New Name … and Loaded with New Features

16. November 2022 Posted by Martin Lechleider

HCL Domino Leap delivers business transformation by enabling citizen developers to solve business challenges and drive workflow efficiencies through process and data automation. Domino Leap offers the advantage of shorter development cycles, reduced development costs, and the ability to make everyone in the organization a developer. Our Domino Leap 1.1 release provides some exciting new features to extend an organization’s ability to become even more agile in responding to everyday challenges.  

Previously known as Domino Volt, the new product name — Domino Leap — is being changed to avoid confusion with HCL Volt MX.  The new name also better aligns with its identical twin – HCL Leap. The two are essentially the same, and in fact share the same basic source code. The only difference is that Domino Leap runs on the Domino platform and provides some additional features which only make sense to Domino customers. 

New features included in this release fall into three major categories: building more sophisticated workflows, reusing your work, and integration with Domino. 

 

Building more sophisticated workflows 

Workflow Branching — A new set of features for visually designing workflow branches has been added. You can specify any number of branches and rules which dictate when that branch should be followed.  For example, a “second approver” branch might be taken when the “amount is greater than 10,000.”  Each branch can have its own activities for notification, assignment and service calls. 

Workflow Reminder Notifications — Reminder notifications can be set up based on a cadence preceding a due date. The due date can be a selected date, a date from the form, or based on how many days the form has been in the workflow stage. Past due notifications can also be set up. Notifications help ensure organizational focus and shorter process cycle time. 

 

Reusing your work and productivity 

Copy and Paste — This feature allows you copy any widget or section from one app and paste it into another. For example, if you’ve added a “contact info” section to one app, simply copy and paste it into your new app.  No more need to duplicate work by recreating every widget, label, setting, etc.  Any service interactions or JavaScript associated with the items are also copied.  This lets you reuse JavaScript and services you’ve built in the past. It’s an amazing timesaver. 

New HTML Editor — A real HTML editor now appears when you add HTML fragment widgets to your app.  The editor properly highlights and formats your syntax, making it much easier to work with. 

New Page Validation Behavior — This change makes creating multi-page, wizard-style forms much easier. In previous releases, if you had a multi-page form with required fields on the first page, you had to wait until clicking “submit” on the last page for validation to happen. The only way around this was to add some JavaScript to force the validation on each page. This new behavior validates a page when you navigate away from it. No more workarounds needed! 

 

Integration with Domino 

Domino Rich Text Roundtripping — Added ability to write rich text from Domino Leap to an existing Domino DB with rich text fields. Leap is able read the contents of Domino-rich text fields and put that content into a Leap rich text field. This includes any file attachments that are stored in the Domino field.  The content can then be edited and updated back to Domino. New Domino documents can also be added from Leap with rich text content. This essentially allows you to create a Leap app that leverages the Domino app by providing a new modern web interface. 

Domino Leap enables organizations to give nontechnical users the ability to build applications without writing a single line of code — and up to 70% faster. Leap also makes it easy to develop powerful, secure, and enterprise-grade, workflow-based applications. While it runs on Domino, you don’t need any specialized Domino or IT skills. Learn more about Domino Leap or test drive Domino Leap via our Sandbox. 

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für HCL Domino Leap 1.1 – New Name … and Loaded with New Features
Tags:
Categories: Allgemein

HCL Domino 12.0.2 Delivers App Modernization, New Collaboration Tools and Enhanced Security

16. November 2022 Posted by Timothy Clark

Our focus on delivering the most comprehensive and value-driven app development platform on the market continues with HCL’s latest Domino 12.0.2 release. From Fortune 500 to small enterprise, Domino 12.0.2 enables your business to run more efficiently–and securely–with significant enhancements for app development, collaboration, and simplified deployment. 

Including our two previous releases, HCL Domino has now delivered 174 new features, enabled workflow automation, extended business apps to the web and mobile devices, and increased platform security to better protect your data. Many of our new features are a direct result of customer feedback from our thousands of Domino customers worldwide on what’s important. 

Focal points of this release include: 

  • Better-Looking Applications – With Domino Restyle, you can apply the wizard-based design in seconds to give a fresh look and feel to your Domino database or templates–modifying your forms, views, pages, action bars, navigators and more. 
  • Enhanced Mail Security – Added flexibility to connect via ICAP to your chosen anti-virus scanning service for mail attachments, whether inbound or outbound. 
  • Easy Meeting Scheduling – Ability to set “free time” for colleagues on Domino, Office365 or Exchange to easily avoid overbooking meetings – especially useful during mail platform transitions during mergers and acquisitions.

 

Key Business Features 12.0.2 

  Features and Related Benefits 

Modernize the look, feel, and user interface for existing apps.  Restyle existing apps in minutes – easily update one application or multiple apps all at once. 
Add handwritten “signature” to forms, with rich text support, to enable approval workflows.  Automate workflows by enabling rich text field to add handwritten “signature” to your forms ⎼ approve on your device in Notes and Nomad Web. 
Save time and reduce over-booked meetings.  Easily determine when colleagues are free to meet even if they are using Domino, Exchange, and Office 365-based calendars.  
Citizen developers can build more sophisticated workflows using HCL Domino Leap with integration to Domino. 
  • Empower business users to build no-code apps without specialized IT or Domino skills. 
  • Business users can build apps 60-70% faster.  
  • Build apps that read and write to Domino Rich Text fields. 
Expand calendar delegation capabilities to create meetings on behalf of another mail file owner.  Empower authorized delegates to manage another user’s calendar to create calendar events and centralize appointment booking with DOMI. 
Save time and stay organized with OnTime Group Calendar for Domino.  OnTime delivers a core set of group calendar functionality to bring transparency and effectiveness to your organization as the perfect addition for Notes Desktop and Verse email client. 

 

Key Technical Features 12.0.2 

  Features and Related Benefits 

Maintain a virus-free environment with stronger email security.  Reduce endpoint threats ⎼ connect your Domino server to chosen virus scanning service using ICAP.  
Reduce support costs – never upgrade another Notes client again.   

 

 Nomad web provides clientless Notes access on your choice of browser – upgrading Notes client no longer required.  
Reduce complexity and save time with Domino one-touch deployment.  Create new Domino server with a single command that loads your certificates, registers users ⎼ complete installation in minutes. 
Expand the ways corporate IT authenticates users using your Domino applications.   Increase flexibility for user authentication with support for Google, Yahoo, Microsoft AD, or any accessible KeyCloak mechanism. 
Simplify your deployment with Nomad Web ⎼ even easier to deploy ⎼ less to manage.  Connect users directly to your Domino server to experience Nomad Web Client in the browser, without installing SafeLinx. 
Add contemporary REST APIs to Domino, enabling a modern programming experience.  Increase your toolset flexibility and use your pro-code tools of choice with Domino for application modernization. 

 

Want to see more features in the release? View What’s New in Domino 12.0.2. 

To strengthen our Domino platform value proposition further, HCL recently: 

  • Announced a partnership with Intravision for their OnTime Group Calendar for Domino. As a companion to Notes Desktop and Verse email client, it helps save time by finding available times to meet across groups, and the ability to poll for available times across multiple organizations or businesses ⎼ plus much more. 
  • Released new versions of Nomad Web 1.0.5, Sametime Premium v12.0.1, and Domino Leap 1.1 (previously known as Domino Volt). 

Consider upgrading your Domino platform today to realize all the advantages and value our latest releases have to offer. Planning your upgrade has never been easier with the help of HCL experts and resources. Download our comprehensive guide to start your planning and schedule time with a technical expert to get your upgrade questions answered. 

For more information on HCL Domino, please visit: https://www.hcltechsw.com/products/domino 

Read full article |Kommentare deaktiviert für HCL Domino 12.0.2 Delivers App Modernization, New Collaboration Tools and Enhanced Security
Tags:
Categories: Allgemein
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »