2011 Enterprise Software

Enterprise software companies are in the middle of a business revolution – and their Websites show it. To find out how these sites are adapting to new times – and who does it best — we evaluated the IBM Software Group, Oracle, CA, SAP, and SAS Websites. Then we threw Symantec.com in for good measure.

We stepped them through 1,231 types of content & features. Put them through their usability paces. Checked them from top to bottom – and turned them inside out. We scored, ranked, and rated every one. Then we put the answers into this handy report.

• Overview
• Perfect for
• In the Report
• Excerpts
• About the Index
• How to Buy

• It’s never been easy to sell enterprise software on the Web. They are complicated. Mission critical (that means high risk). Require boatloads of consulting and services to make them work.

  And then there are those pesky trends. Less is more designs that put marketing word counts on a diet (yippee!). Public access to support that used to hide behind a contract. Products that require the Cloud. No wonder so many Web teams have a headache.

  So here’s the question. What have the biggest enterprise software Websites been up to this year – who does it best – and who do you need to worry about next year?

  If you want to see how the future is playing out, you’ve come to the right place.

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  We set out to find the answers

  We evaluated the 6 enterprise software sites on the 2011 siteIQ eBusiness Index. We’re talking sites that do real business on the Web. They serve over 3 million visitors a day (that’s about 100 million visitors a month)  — and drop 17 million pages onto users’ desks every 24 hours. Real business, indeed.

  Since opinions are good — but facts are better — we conducted these evaluations using our Best Practices Benchmark which is packed full of the 1,231 types of content, features & capabilities you need on a best-in-class Website.

  Of course, great Websites are much more than the sum of their parts. That’s why we rolled up our sleeves and conducted a second usability review based on 119 questions that measure how each site achieves visitor goals & objectives.

  Then we crunched the numbers — ranked & rated each support site — created cool graphs to tell the story — added our unvarnished opinions — and rolled it all up into this nifty report.

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  The Big Picture

  2011 was the year when the world started to shift under enterprise software Website teams. New launches (SAP.com), revolutions (IBM Software Group), and aggressive housekeeping (Oracle.com) all worked together to shake up the rankings – and is setting the stage for a very interesting 2012.

  This year, the IBM Software Group caught IBM.com’s Centennial design wave and surfed right over to claim the usability crown. Once we threw Symantec.com into the mix, the usability dominos started to fall. Despite clocking in 10 usability good practices, CA.com – last year’s winner – slid into third, and everybody else got knocked down a peg.

  If large but unwieldy is your bag of tricks you don’t need to look much further than Oracle.com. With six good and best practices, Oracle.com tops the content & features category this year – but its roller coaster usability behaviors (navigation & channel up; support & blogs down) handed it a fourth place usability finish.

  But don’t think for a minute that the Oracle.com team has simply lost its wits. Just between us chickens, a little birdie tells us there are some interesting things in the wings.

  By the time all of the scores were rolled up, Oracle.com, CA.com, and IBM Software finished one, two, three.

  And what about the rest of the field? Some interesting things happened.

  We decided to throw Symantec.com into the mix this year to see how a bantam weight would fare in a heavy weight software world. Not bad, as it turns out. Although it ranks fourth overall, its usability stands up to the best (ranks #2).

  We’ve been impressed with SAP.com’s new design although its slow motion roll out kept its scores under water in 2011. It currently ranks fifth overall, but we see some light at the end of the tunnel. SAP.com brought in good practice-class usability scores in the corporate, product and industry marketing categories.

  This leaves us with SAS.com in this year’s boat anchor position (ranks #6). On the bright side, four areas made good practice grades: corporate, product and industry marketing and its training and education zone. Content & features? Painfully thin  – and leagues behind competitors.

• If you don’t care what enterprise software sites are doing, you’ll probably find some of our other reports more useful. On the other hand, if want a clear view of your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, what matters and why, this report is a great place to start. Here’s who will benefit most from this report.
  • Teams that build, compete with (or want to get the real scoop on) the 6 enterprise software sites we evaluated in this study.
  • Digital & Web strategy directors & managers who are responsible for your company’s online strategy.
  • User experience (UX) professionals who are burning the midnight oil to make your Website sticky – and a place your visitors love to love.
  • Digital & Web marketing managers who want to create demand –  harvest prospects – and laser focus your site on the B2B buying process.
  • Competitive, usability, & visitor satisfaction analytics managers who need metrics to compare your site to competitors and report on its progress and challenges.

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  Here’s Why

  Our clients tell us that they use our reports to:

  • Cut through the competitive clutter and laser focus their teams (and executives) on the sites that deliver good & best practices in design, navigation, marketing (product, services, industry, channel, corporate, events), online communities, support, training, and recruiting – and are creating new standards and visitor expectations. (Here’s the whole list in case we missed something.)
  • Get a bird’s eye view of which sites are the most usable — and exactly where they excel.
  • Identify which sites deliver the perfect combination of content, features, & capabilities — and where their teams need to go back to the beginning.
  • Educate their executives, stakeholders & agency partners about the company’s support capabilities and challenges & and gain consensus to develop a master improvement plan.

• If you want the inside scoop on sites that create business on the Web — where they excel and how they do it — you’ve come to the right place. Here’s what’s in this 60-page report.

  We start by giving you the big picture.

  • The enterprise software sites that are real industry leaders – and must be on your competitive radar.
  • Are the most usable.
  • Deliver the content & features your visitors expect and need.

  Think of it as a way to cut through the competitive clutter and laser focus your teams on the best and good practice Websites that really matter.

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  Then we move on to the details.

  • How each site ranks, rates and compares in 18 Website categories.
  • The sites that deliver good and best practices – and who is gaining and losing ground.
  • Usability trends for 119 issues – perfect for assessing where Web teams are focusing their time and treasure – and the problems visitors still see.
  • Quick summaries that bring the rankings to life. Pinpoint what matters. Give you the ammunition you need to coach your stakeholders and make your case.

  Think of it as a way to drill down into every nook and cranny of your site and see who does it best.

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  This report features more than 90 graphs, charts, and tables — perfect to educate your stakeholders and make a business case with executives.

  • Bar charts show how these online support sites rank, rate & compare.
  • Competitive eMAPs pinpoint real leaders at a glance.

  Want to know what’s in the report page-by-page? Check out the simple Table of Contents.

• Facts are great – but graphs are better. That’s why all of our reports are packed with graphs you can use to make your case. Here are some interesting facts from this report.

  

  But wait, there’s more!

• Some companies evaluate cars and toasters. We evaluate Websites.

  Twice a year, we audit & evaluate the 23 Websites that represent the best-of-the-best on the IT Web. We put them through their usability paces. We score them based on over 1,200 types of content, features, & capabilities for eighteen Website zones & cross site utilities.

  Then we rank and rate them based on the results.

  Leading Web teams use the siteIQ eBusiness Index rankings to:

  • Accurately identify how their Websites compete on the Web.
  • Check if their sites are gaining or losing ground to competitors and industry requirements.
  • See where time & treasure are paying off.
  • Watch the sites that are changing user expectations & behaviors – and are setting new standards on the IT Web.

  
  

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