The end of a year always seems to bring a slew of lists—what’s in and what’s out, best places to live, best movies of the year, best television performances and on and on. It also is commonly a time for reflection. As I reflect on a given year, I use an exercise called “Start, Stop, Continue.” I think about what worked well in the past year that I’d like to continue doing (e.g., I’m addicted to Orangetheory so the 5 am workouts are permanently on my calendar). I also think about what I’d like to start doing or do more of (e.g., committing to spending more time outdoors with my family hiking and mountain biking). Finally, I think about what I should stop doing (e.g., having electronics in the bedroom in order to have more restful sleep).
In addition to the “Start, Stop, Continue” exercise, I spend some time reflecting on my values. These include things like being healthy in mind and body, spending quality time with my family, investing in my relationships, leading with compassion and humility, doing work that I have passion for and having fun with my colleagues and at my workplace, to name a few.
As I think about the time since I’ve joined Serenova, I am certainly checking all the boxes around having fun and doing work that I’m passionate about. The contact center space is still only 12 to 15 percent penetrated with cloud solutions and, yet, customer experience is the competitive differentiator that most brands are looking to leverage. It is easy to be passionate about enabling brands to provide that differentiated customer experience by giving them the flexibility they need through cloud-based solutions. And when you’re having a killer year, it’s hard not to have fun with your colleagues and friends. As we look to close out the year with a multitude of awards that include industry recognition spanning technology innovation, business performance and company growth, it’s hard to not feel the momentum of what’s been a phenomenal year.
Key award wins and industry recognition achieved in 2018 include:
Technology and Business Awards
- Serenova received Cloud Computing Magazine’s 2018 Product of the Year. The award honors vendors with the most innovative, useful, and beneficial cloud products and services that have been available to deploy within the past year.
- For the second consecutive year, Serenova was presented the 2018 Contact Center Excellence Award by CUSTOMER magazine. The 13th annual award honors the best in customer service-enhancing technology solutions.
- Serenova was named to the 20 Most Promising Contact Center Technology Solution Providers by CIOReview. After evaluating hundreds of contact center vendors, CIOReview identified the top 20 that fulfill the demand for cost-effective and flexible solutions that add value to the contact center landscape.
- Serenova was added to the 30 Best Small Companies to Watch list by The Silicon Review. The list is focused on identifying the top startups that are driving the latest technology innovations and business trends in today’s technology market.
- Featured on the list of Austin Innovation’s 2018 Coolest Companies, Serenova was nominated by its employees for its unique culture and myriad of benefits it offers to its employees.
- I was named to The SaaS Report’s Top Women Leaders in SaaS. The list recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of women in SaaS, software and the broader technology field. (Thank you again by the way, I’m humbled and grateful for the recognition).
Industry Analyst Recognition:
- For the fourth consecutive year, Serenova has been included amongst the top vendors in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for the Contact Center as a Service, North America, as a Challenger. Based on detailed evaluation of each vendors’ ability to execute and completeness of vision, the Magic Quadrant is a definitive source of objective and independent evaluations of enterprise CCaaS solutions.
- In the debut evaluation by Forrester Research of the cloud contact center vendor landscape, Serenova was named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Cloud Contact Centers, Q3 2018. For the report, Forrester Research evaluated 11 of the most significant vendors in the cloud contact center market. The report noted that “companies in North America and Europe that require large scale and global voice support, with hundreds to thousands of seats, should consider Serenova CxEngage.”
As I look forward to 2019, I’m also applying the “Start, Stop, Continue” exercise to our efforts at Serenova, I’m enthusiastic about starting the year helping our customers go even further in achieving their customer experience objectives. I want to stop more often throughout the year to reflect on and celebrate all the successes—both as a company and with our customers. And I fully expect to continue our exceptional momentum and growth. Here’s to a new year full of outstanding customer experiences!
Michelle Burrows is Chief Marketing Officer at Serenova, where she leads the company’s global marketing strategy, brand development, communications and demand generation. Prior to joining Serenova, Michelle was Vice President of Marketing and Analytics at Comcast Business, leading the customer loyalty contact center. Prior to Comcast, she served as Vice President of Demand Marketing for inContact (NICE inContact) and held key leadership positions at Rally Software (CA Technologies), Verint Systems and Genesys Conferencing (West Corporation).
