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How ISVs can use AI to drive success and growth

Learn how independent software vendors (ISVs) can use AI to streamline operations and achieve growth.
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Why AI Matters for Independent Software Vendors

For ISVs that face increasing pressure to deliver cutting-edge solutions and meet ever-evolving customer needs, AI has the potential to accelerate innovation and improve productivity. Businesses are turning to AI-powered solutions to help streamline internal workflows and automate tasks. They’re also building AI into their own products and solutions to offer customers enhanced capabilities.

One important way that ISVs are transforming their businesses is by integrating AI into the software development process. Al capabilities are reshaping the way software is designed, developed, and deployed, making it easier to improve offerings and deliver greater value to customers.

Software development teams are using AI to assist during code development with tools that suggest the next line of code or function. They’re asking generative AI to detect bugs and offer recommended fixes, and they’re saving time by automating tasks related to testing, project management, and documentation. These improvements are helping ISVs optimize their products and services, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction and increased business growth.

Key takeaways

  • ISVs are transforming their businesses by integrating AI into their products and services.
  • There are also opportunities for ISVs to streamline their businesses by incorporating AI into software development.
  • Technologies like predictive analytics, personalization engines, and automation are examples of AI-powered tools that create value for customers.
  • Operational efficiency, customer engagement, and data-driven insights are three key benefits for ISVs who use AI.
  • ISVs like Visier, Softools, and CallMiner are already seeing results from incorporating AI into their products.
  • Innovations in AI have only just begun, and there will be many more exciting opportunities for both new and established ISVs. 

AI applications that enhance products

In addition to tools that improve the software development process, AI technologies enhance the functionality of software products, providing ISVs with new ways to create value for their customers. Some examples are: 

Predictive analytics

ISVs are using AI to forecast customer behavior, identify emerging trends, and optimize product features based on data-driven insights. By analyzing historical data, AI algorithms empower ISVs to predict future actions and tailor their software to meet evolving customer needs. 

Personalization engines

AI is also helping ISVs deliver customized user experiences that enhance engagement and loyalty. Using machine learning algorithms, software adapts to individual preferences, behaviors, and usage patterns, offering tailored content, recommendations, and features. 

Automation

Whether it's automating data entry, processing customer support requests, or managing inventory, AI offers several tools to streamline operations and improve overall efficiency.

Benefits of AI for ISVs

ISVs who integrate AI into their business processes stand to gain: 

  • Operational efficiency. By automating manual processes, ISVs can reduce the time spent on routine tasks, minimize human error, and reallocate resources to more strategic initiatives.

  • Customer engagement. Recommendation engines and AI-based chatbots offer customers a more personalized experience, leading to greater satisfaction and retention.

  • Data-driven insights. AI excels at processing large datasets and extracting valuable insights, providing ISVs with a deeper understanding of customer behaviors, market trends, and software performance.

Industry best practices for AI integration

ISVs who have successfully integrated AI into their applications have applied the following best practices:

  • Develop a clear strategy. It’s important to define goals and objectives up front and prioritize capabilities that can be delivered quickly and offer the biggest payoff.

  • Manage data. Data quality and governance is essential for AI applications. ISVs are most successful when they focus on collecting high-quality, clean data to train machine learning models and power AI algorithms.

  • Build user-centric design. AI tools need to be easy to use to encourage adoption. Finding applications that enhance the user experience will help ensure that employees and customers use them.

  • Prioritize scalability. Choosing AI technologies that can scale as the business grows is crucial. As an ISV’s customer base and data volume increase, the AI infrastructure should be able to handle the added load.

  • Start with a pilot. Piloting a new application or capability with a small group of people helps ISVs address bugs and user experience challenges before rolling it out to everyone. 
     

Many ISVs have already begun to see success from their AI implementations:

Visier

To help businesses maximize the impact of their employers, Visier built a bot that delivers workforce analytics and insights in a highly secure, reliable, enterprise context.    

Softools 

Softools uses AI to help customers quickly automate business processes through its enterprise-grade, no-code application platform. The solution empowers people to digitize business processes that are often managed manually using paper or emails. 

CallMiner

CallMiner developed an AI-driven platform that uses speech recognition capabilities to ingest and analyze customer support conversations. The solution helps leaders make informed decisions by delivering insights into why people are calling, how service agents are performing, and any potential issues with their products.

Understanding rising and established ISVs

The AI landscape presents opportunities and challenges for both rising and established ISVs. 

New ISVs often must contend with limited resources, competition from larger players, and the need to rapidly scale their products. AI offers a way to overcome these challenges by empowering these vendors to offer smarter, more competitive solutions without requiring significant upfront investment in infrastructure. 

For established ISVs, the challenge lies in maintaining growth while staying relevant in a rapidly evolving market. AI can help these companies optimize their existing products, enhance customer engagement, and identify new revenue opportunities. By continuously integrating AI into their solutions, established ISVs can keep up with changing customer expectations and technological advancements.
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Frequently asked questions

  • AI stands for artificial intelligence, which is a computer system that can perform complex tasks that are associated with human intelligence.  
    For ISVs, AI tools like Azure AI bring numerous benefits, including increased productivity, enhanced decision-making, and the ability to create innovative solutions that meet evolving customer needs.
  • AI can significantly improve user engagement by delivering personalized experiences.  
    For instance, AI-powered recommendation systems can suggest relevant products or services based on individual user preferences, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • AI enables ISVs to analyze vast amounts of customer data, such as purchase history, browsing behavior, and feedback.  
    This analysis provides valuable insights into customer preferences and pain points, allowing ISVs to develop targeted solutions and strategies for improved customer satisfaction and retention.
  • There are several ways ISVs can integrate AI into their software offerings. They can build AI capabilities directly into their applications, take advantage of AI services from cloud providers, or collaborate with AI startups. The approach depends on the specific requirements, expertise, and resources available to the ISV.
  • AI can enhance ISV products and services by adding intelligent features and functionalities.  
    For example, AI-powered chatbots can provide real-time customer support, while AI-driven analytics can optimize business processes and improve decision-making. By integrating AI, ISVs can deliver more value to their customers and gain a competitive advantage.