The Research

Our collection of independent and objective technology research is designed to help you make smarter, data-driven decisions.

Ask Nucleus

Our generative AI tool searches the entire data catalog and all published research.

ROI Case Studies

An ROI case study is a thorough examination of the actual benefits a customer achieved from a technology deployment.

Value Matrix

The Nucleus Research Technology Value Matrix is concise assessment of the operational value a solution delivers.

BROWSE ALL RESEARCH

  • ROI Case Studies P65

    Salesforce ROI case study: Activision

    Activision integrated Salesforce Social Studio (formerly Radian6) with its Service Cloud deployment to modernize its service and support offering by introducing a new category of…

  • Research, Value Matrix P79

    Technology Value Matrix 2015: CPM

    Nucleus evaluated the usability and functionality of the most influential corporate performance management (CPM) solutions in the market. The space continues to see change as…

  • Research P78

    ToolsGroup debuts Instant Replay

    On May 11, 2015 ToolsGroup announced the release of a new supply chain simulation tool, “Instant Replay.” That tool allows supply chain planners to review…

  • Research P77

    Big companies should follow small companies into the supply chain cloud

    Although large companies are the biggest buyers of supply chain software, they are the most dissatisfied with the results. A study by Nucleus Research found…

  • Research P76

    Alliance of SAP and IBM Reflects General HCM Industry Trends

    The announcement of IBM and SAP conjoining elements of their software-as-a-service (SaaS)–delivered offerings in human capital management (HCM) marks another instance showing the flexibility of…

  • Research P75

    NetSuite and Microsoft team up

    At SuiteWorld this week, NetSuite and Microsoft announced an extensive partnership to integrate their solutions and deliver NetSuite on the Microsoft Azure platform. The first…

  • Research P74

    Lack of resources and ROI hinder more use of analytics in supply chain

    Although business intelligence (BI) software has been touted as a way for supply chain chiefs to gain sharper insights into their operations and transform their…

  • Research P66

    Exploring the benefits of the SAP Mobile Platform

    Providing enterprise users with mobile access to enterprise resource planning (ERP) data and processes can drive greater productivity, reduce errors and omissions, and streamline workflows….

  • Research P72

    Cloud supply chain software boosts payback

    Although only a third of companies have deployed any type of cloud-based solutions for supply chain software, those that do get a quicker payback than…

  • Research P64

    Vertical solutions drive greater value in analytics

    In looking at industry-specific trends in analytics, Nucleus found vertical capabilities could typically reduce initial consulting costs by 65 percent while accelerating the time to…

  • Research, Value Matrix P73

    Technology Value Matrix 2015: WFM

    The challenges of integration continue to bear directly on the usability of technology from vendors in the Workforce Management (WFM) Value Matrix. With the Affordable…

  • Research P52

    Guidebook: CyberArk Privileged Account Security Solution

    Managing security efficiently is an increasing concern for IT departments that must mitigate risk while balancing control against the demands for access and productivity of…

  • Research P71

    Half of companies get the desired ROI on supply chain software

    Although businesses spend huge sums on supply chain planning and execution software, only half of them receive the expected payback from the investment. A recent…

  • Research P70

    Adaptive stands out in a growing market

    At its user conference in San Jose this week, Adaptive released a series of announcements surrounding investments in both usability and functionality. The company continues…

  • Research, Value Matrix P67

    Technology Value Matrix First Half 2015: Analytics

    Users have become more demanding of analytics vendors, and desire accelerated access to insights with improved context. Some of these users desire operational insights, while…

  • ROI Case Studies P68

    ToolsGroup benefit case study: Boise Paper

    Boise Paper deployed ToolsGroup software for inventory optimization (IO) in order to fine tune its stock holdings of paper and forest products and to gain…

  • Research P63

    Demand driven supply chains spread beyond CPG

    The practice of demand-driven supply chains is growing as evidenced by more companies using demand signals to drive inventory optimization (IO) and replenishment. Only a…

  • Research, Value Matrix P62

    Technology Value Matrix 2015: HCM

    In the six months that have passed since our publishing of the previous Matrix for human capital management (HCM), most vendors that were in the…

  • ROI Tools P25

    Attunity ROI business case tool

    Attunity is a leading provider of information availability software solutions that enable access, sharing, and distribution of data across heterogeneous enterprise platforms, organizations, and the…

  • Research P59

    Rimini Street leading the third-party support market

    In late January, Rimini Street announced fiscal year 2014 results that included a 42 percent increase in annual net revenues and annualized subscription revenues of…

  • Research, Value Matrix P55

    Technology Value Matrix First Half 2015: ERP

    The last six months saw major new product announcements and user interface (UI) redesign investments by some of the largest vendors as well as significant…

  • ROI Case Studies P39

    Salesforce ROI case study: City of Elgin

    The City of Elgin, Illinois deployed Salesforce Service Cloud with Knowledge Base, Live Agent, and Chatter and Community Cloud to provide the city with a…

  • Research P58

    Microsoft unveils expanding vision for Dynamics customers at Convergence

    Microsoft announced new product developments and roadmap details at Convergence, its Dynamics-focused user conference in Atlanta in March, including advances in its customer relationship management…

  • ROI Case Studies P60

    GAINSystems ROI case study: QubicaAMF

    QubicaAMF Worldwide deployed software from GAINSystems to optimize its inventory holdings to support and grow its business. Nucleus found that the inventory optimization application from…

  • ROI Case Studies P61

    LogicTools benefit case study: Sears

    Sears Holdings Corp. deployed two LogicTools supply chain applications – LogicNetPlus (LNP) and Transportation Analyst (TA) – to make informed decisions in streamlining the distribution…

  • Research P57

    LLamasoft acquires LogicTools from IBM

    On April 1, 2015 LLamasoft announced that it had acquired IBM’s LogicTools Supply Chain Applications Business Unit. The acquisition strengthens LLamasoft’s domination in the supply…

  • Research P53

    Maximizing inventory optimization tools

    Although most companies purchase inventory optimization (IO) software with the intent of cutting excess stock, they often don’t realize the full power inherent in these…

  • Research P54

    New Partnerships Add New Hues to Competitive Landscape in HCM

    The market space for human capital management (HCM) recently saw announcements of two partnerships, each involving top-tier cloud vendors. One of these announcements signals an…

  • Research P49

    Information Builders for healthcare

    Healthcare providers are confronting increased regulatory pressure to improve customer outcomes and reduce costs. Information Builders Omni-Patient is a vertical solution that allows healthcare organizations…

  • Research P50

    Anatomy of a decision: 3 reasons for selecting ToolsGroup

    ToolsGroup has emerged as a leader among vendors providing inventory optimization (IO) software. Nucleus spoke to a number of ToolsGroup customers to understand why they…

  • Research P51

    Fortifying its position: Ceridian expands from the epicenter of HCM

    Since acquiring Dayforce, Ceridian has methodically cultivated breadth, functionality, and usability in the company’s technology for human capital management (HCM). Ceridian’s team assiduously deployed improvements…

  • Research P48

    Supply chain design tools: Enabling omnichannel success

    As retailers struggle to compete against e-commerce leader Amazon, they need to take greater advantage of the power of supply chain design software. These tools…

  • ROI Case Studies P45

    PTC Windchill ROI case study: STRATTEC

    STRATTEC Security Corporation deployed PTC Windchill to replace its existing product lifecycle management (PLM) solution and improve product design tracking and collaboration. Nucleus found that…

  • Research P46

    Anatomy of a decision: 3 reasons for selecting LLamasoft

    LLamasoft continues to dominate the supply chain design marketplace, taking customers away from its competitors. Nucleus took a close look at LLamasoft’s customer wins to…

  • ROI Case Studies P47

    Oracle benefit case study: Anonymous manufacturer

    A global manufacturer deployed Oracle Inventory Optimization to reduce stock held at multiple worldwide locations and to impose discipline on inventory management practices in its…

  • Research P41

    Hadoop best practices: Single versus multiple instances

    Customers in business intelligence and analytics are turning to data management platforms to handle expanding data sets, preventing bottlenecks in accessibility while maintaining high standards…

  • Research P42

    JDA releases Agile Control Tower

    On March 5, 2015 JDA Software Group Inc. announced that the newest release of JDA Enterprise Supply Planning suite features an Agile Control Tower. This…

  • Research P43

    Verticalization win for Vlocity

    Salesforce partner Vlocity’s announcement of a customer win for its communications solution is the harbinger of further investment in vertical cloud customer relationship management (CRM)…

  • Research P44

    Tibco releases Spotfire 7

    On March 3, Tibco announced the newest iteration of its BI platform with Spotfire 7. With the new release, Tibco updates Spotfire’s user interface (UI),…

  • Research, Value Matrix P40

    Technology Value Matrix First Half 2015: CRM

    Customer relationship management (CRM) vendors continue to invest in expanding functionality across the three core pillars of CRM – sales force automation, marketing automation, and…

  • ROI Case Studies P35

    Barloworld benefit case study: Anonymous global 3PL

    A global third-party logistics (3PL) company deployed CAST Aurora from Barloworld Supply Chain Software to provide supply chain design services to its shipper customers and…

  • Research P36

    Desk.com goes global

    On February 24, Salesforce Desk.com announced upgrades to global capabilities. Nucleus found that by leveraging automated language capabilities, Desk.com provide small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs)…

  • Research P34

    EMC launches Data Lake Foundation

    On February 19, EMC announced the launch of its Data Lake Foundation. EMC has announced the release of new hardware and software integrations that promise…

  • Research P37

    WFM Vendors and Compliance with the Affordable Care Act

    Employers’ responsibilities in complying with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extend beyond what any vendor of solutions for workforce management (WFM) can do. Even so,…

  • Research P38

    Hitachi embraces Hadoop and the cloud

    February has been an active month for Hitachi Data Systems as it has sought to build out its cloud and Hadoop offerings. Hitachi announced a…

  • Research P32

    FinancialForce com releases rebate management capability

    On February 18, 2015 FinancialForce.com announced the release of Rebate Revenue Management, part of its supply chain management (SCM) offering. Automating rebate revenue management enables…

  • ROI Tools P20

    Microsoft Parature service maturity benefit assessment tool

    To understand how increasing the maturity of customer service processes and supporting technologies could drive greater benefits, Nucleus Research analysts conducted in-depth To understand how…

  • Research P31

    Anatomy of a decision: Infinisource iSolved Network

    In the payroll services market, regional actors are being pressured by changing legal regulations and customer expectations for more robust services. The Infinisource iSolved Network…

  • Research P33

    A closer look at ThinkTime

    In retail and industries similar to it, a hodgepodge of tasks essential to the job, but time-consuming and distracting, can kill productivity and pull managers…

  • Research P19

    Assessing customer service maturity: An in-depth look at Microsoft customers

    Organizations are increasingly challenged to deliver higher quality, more consistent levels of customer service. In its analysis of customers using Microsoft solutions such as Parature…