Software Suites, AI Reshaping Customer Experience, ISG Says
Providers are integrating once-siloed software for contact center, CRM, marketing and service functions, new research says
The ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Experience Management, produced by
In recent years, enterprises are starting to take a more centralized approach to CX using customer experience management (CXM) software, which combines applications on a common platform so organizations can view and control customer activity across departments, the reports say. Software providers are making this possible by synthesizing functions, packaging together previously separate systems for managing interactions and influencing customer behavior.
A key benefit of combining CX software into a single platform is consistency and continuity around data collection and metrics, ISG says. This allows enterprises to transcend the separate metrics used by each department, achieving a more holistic view.
“By 2027, we expect most CXM suites, by default, will include components that combine analytics, AI and customer data integration,“ said
CXM software is evolving rapidly, so each suite has different strengths depending on its components and on the traditional expertise of the provider, the reports say. Providers of contact center, CRM and marketing software have been assembling CXM suites. The platforms include tools for functions that may include customer data, contact center interaction handling, knowledge management and customer journey management (CJM).
ISG expects providers to fill out their suites over time, converging on five core functional areas that every CXM suite should include: interaction handling, resource management, workflow automation, insights and analysis and CJM. Interaction handling includes both traditional call-center voice interactions and digital customer contact channels.
CJM turns the passive act of responding to service calls into a deliberate effort to optimize customer experiences and relationships, the reports say. By mapping the customer journey or lifecycle, enterprises may identify moments of influence when they can generate more business or turn customers into advocates. CJM includes software for personalizing interactions and managing proactive sales and marketing efforts.
Enterprises should evaluate CXM suites based on how they manage and measure customer behavior, whether they can give senior management a useful overview of the customer base and how easily they can be expanded into software segments related to other departments and processes, ISG says.
For its 2025 Buyers Guides for Customer Experience Management, ISG evaluated software providers across three platform categories — Customer Experience Management, Customer Journey Management and Knowledge Management — and produced a separate Buyers Guide for each. A total of 29 providers were assessed: Adobe, Braze, CSG,
The Overall Leaders of the 2025 Buyers Guides for Customer Experience Management were the following:
Customer Experience Management: Salesforce earned the highest overall rating, followed by Verint and NICE. Salesforce was designated a Leader in four categories, NICE in six categories and Verint in two categories. Adobe, Emplifi, Freshworks,
Customer Journey Management: Salesforce was rated highest overall, followed by Oracle and Verint. Salesforce was named a Leader in four categories and Verint in one category. Adobe, Emplifi, Freshworks,
Knowledge Management: Verint earned the highest overall rating. Salesforce was second highest, followed closely by ServiceNow. Of the top three providers, Verint was designated a Leader in two categories, Salesforce in four and ServiceNow in six. Adobe, Emplifi, Genesys, NICE, Oracle, Sprinklr, Zendesk and Zoho were also rated Exemplary. No providers were rated Innovative.
“CXM suites are evolving into platforms of great utility and variety,” said
The ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Experience Management are the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Experience Management and read executive summaries of each of the three reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting
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About ISG
ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.
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