Request a Demo Locations

Solutions

SmartCOMM

Create and deliver personalized, compliant customer communications at scale.

SmartIQ

Turn static forms into guided, conversational digital experiences.

SmartHUB

Archive and retrieve communications securely with cloud-native speed.

SmartPath

Orchestrate real-time, compliant interactions across every channel.

SmartDX

Simplify and standardize trade and relationship documentation workflows.

Industries

Insurance

Insurance

Improve customer engagement across policy, billing, and claims.

Financial Services

Financial Services

Engage in faster, frictionless financial interactions.

Healthcare Payers

Healthcare Payers

Transform health plans with digital and interactive member experiences.

Healthcare Providers

Healthcare Providers

Create and deliver personalized, compliant customer communications at scale.

Government

Government

Heighten citizen experience with digital transformation.

Utility

Utility

Improve customer engagement across utilities.

Resources

Resource Center

Resource Center

Browse popular market research, articles, videos, written guides and more in one convenient location.

Customer Resources

Customer Resources

Access everything you need to support, manage, and maximize your Smart Communications solutions.

Events

Events

Explore upcoming events, webinars, and customer experiences shaping the future of customer conversations.

News

News

Get the latest updates on Smart Communications, including product news, and industry recognition.

Company

About us

About us

Learn more about our company, our leadership and how were growing the team!

Partners

Partners

Integrate seamlessly with the best in the industry.

Analysts

Analysts

Access analyst research, market reports, and industry recognitions featuring Smart Communications.

Tag: CCM Migration

SmartCOMM™ vs. Legacy Communication Systems: A Buyer’s Guide

Posted on by SmartComm

By Smart Communications 

When organizations evaluate customer communication systems/tools/software/technology, the decision often comes down to whether to maintain legacy systems or move to a modern, unified solution. Legacy tools may have been sufficient in the past, but today they can create complexity, higher costs, and slower response times. 

In this blog, we compare legacy approaches with SmartCOMM, and outline the differences in efficiency, scalability, and compliance. The goal is to give you a clear, factual framework to support your CCM vendor evaluation. 

What Is SmartCOMM? 

SmartCOMM is an enterprise-level, cloud-based customer communications management (CCM) solution designed to streamline how organizations create, manage, and deliver communications. It replaces fragmented, multi-vendor setups with a single solution that supports both document generation and omnichannel delivery. 

By integrating with existing systems, SmartCOMM helps ensure your customer communications are accurate, consistent, personalized, and compliant. It also adapts easily as business needs, customer expectations, and regulatory requirements evolve. 

Why Legacy Communication Systems Fall Short 

Legacy CCM systems typically rely on disconnected tools to handle print, email, SMS, and archiving. While workable, these setups often create hidden costs and operational inefficiencies that limit growth. 

Other notable challenges with legacy CCM systems include: 

  • High IT overhead: Multiple contracts, upgrades, and maintenance cycles drain resources.
  • Compliance gaps: Disconnected workflows increase the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
  • Slow time-to-market: Making updates can take weeks or months due to siloed processes.
  • Fragmented experiences: Customers receive communications and documents that lack consistency across channels. 

SmartCOMM vs. Legacy CCM Systems: A Side-by-Side Comparison 

Feature 

Legacy Systems 

SmartCOMM 

Inputs 

Manual data entry, limited integrations 

API-based; integrates with core business systems 

Outputs 

Print-heavy, siloed channels 

Omnichannel: email, SMS, portals, print 

Compliance 

Manual checks, higher error rates 

Centralized rules, automated compliance 

Scalability 

Difficult to adapt 

Cloud-based, scales with demand 

Time-to-Market 

Weeks or months 

Days or hours 

User Experience 

Inconsistent and fragmented 

Personalized, consistent, real–time 

Why Buyers Choose SmartCOMM 

Consolidating wtih SmartCOMM has been shown to reduce costs, improve compliance, and deliver better communications. Keep reading to see how one of our customers did just that. 

Case Study: Priority Health 

Priority Health, a leading health insurer, modernized its communications infrastructure with SmartCOMM™. This transformation led to: 

  • 80% Reduction in Development Time: Streamlined claims and authorization processes, significantly cutting down the time required for development.
  • Positive Return on Investment (ROI): Achieved a favorable ROI through enhanced operational efficiency and reduced costs. 
  • Eased IT Administrative Burden: Simplified IT management, allowing internal teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance.
  • Significant Reduction in External Vendor Costs: Lowered reliance on external vendors, leading to substantial cost savings. 

Looking ahead, Priority Health plans to integrate more documents into SmartCOMM, collaborate with their marketing team for digital transformation, and utilize SmartIQ for enhanced interactive communication and data collection 

To learn more, check out the video below:

See SmartCOMM in Action

Ready to compare for yourself? Schedule a demo and see how you can replace your legacy systems with a modern, unified communication platform. The best part? SmartCOMM demos take less than 30 minutes, are no obligation, and completely free! 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: What makes SmartCOMM different from legacy CCM systems? 
SmartCOMM unifies communication and document generation in one system, while legacy systems rely on multiple disconnected tools. 

Q: What formats does SmartCOMM support for input and output? 
SmartCOMM integrates with core business systems using APIs, batch files, or real-time data feeds. On the output side, it supports true omnichannel delivery — including email, SMS, secure portals, and print — ensuring consistent and personalized customer experiences across all touchpoints. 

Q: How difficult is it to migrate to SmartCOMM from a legacy system? 
While any migration requires planning, SmartCOMM is designed to make the transition as smooth as possible. The platform offers flexible integration options, proven implementation methodologies, and expert support to guide teams through the process. Many organizations are able to phase the migration, starting with high-impact use cases and scaling over time. The result is a streamlined communications ecosystem with significantly lower long-term complexity and cost. 

Q: How does SmartCOMM handle compliance?  
SmartCOMM ensures compliance by centralizing rules and automating compliance checks, significantly reducing manual errors and associated risks. By consolidating your communications ecosystem onto a single cloud-based platform, organizations can improve internal efficiency and decrease reliance on IT teams. Regulatory language can be maintained and updated seamlessly across your entire communication portfolio from one place, ensuring consistency and accuracy. Built-in approval workflows, audit trails, and locked regulatory content blocks provide additional safeguards, giving teams confidence that all communications meet compliance standards while streamlining the review and approval process.  

Q: Can SmartCOMM scale as my organization grows?  
Yes. SmartCOMM is cloud-native and built to adapt to increasing volume and evolving needs. 

The State of Digital Transformation in 2024: Overcoming Legacy Technology Barriers and Elevating Customer Experience

Posted on by Leigh Segall

By Leigh Segall, CEO at Smart Communications 
 
Reflecting on the challenges of the past four years, organizations have faced unprecedented uncertainty and pressure to adapt. In 2023, innovation was stifled as organizations grappled with the looming specter of economic recessions. This led many to shelve critical digital transformation initiatives, putting them on hold as they navigated economic uncertainties. Now, emerging from this hiatus, we see a new chapter swiftly unfolding, marked by renewed momentum and a reinvigorated push towards digital transformation. 

Closing the Digital Maturity Gap in 2024 

Recent research has uncovered a remarkable surge in IT spending for 2024, with 72% of digital leaders doubling down on investments to propel their digital initiatives forward. This surge reflects a broader trend towards digital transformation, with global spending projected to reach a staggering 3.4 trillion US dollars by 2026—a nearly 3x increase over the last five years.  

Yet, despite this momentum, significant challenges remain. According to Forrester, a mere 6% of organizations have attained advanced digital maturity, highlighting the pervasive gap between aspiration and achievement in the digital realm.  

Legacy systems continue to consume a substantial portion of the overall IT budget, impeding innovation. In fact, 87% of CIOs cite the complexity of existing systems as a barrier to investing in next-generation services. Additionally, 34% of CIOs have identified replacing legacy technology as a top digital transformation goal for 2024, underscoring the urgency of modernization efforts.

Retiring Legacy Technology for Enhanced Engagement 

When it comes to managing customer communications, organizations must address the lingering challenge of legacy communications technology. While many enterprises have made strides in modernizing their customer communications with cloud-based solutions, a significant number still grapple with outdated, on-premise, channel-based systems.  

These legacy solutions, acquired over time, pose a multitude of challenges—they are costly to maintain, lead to duplication of efforts, impede business agility, and detract from the customer experience. To truly harness the benefits of a modern CCM platform, we see many organizations looking to retire these outdated systems and transition to a centralized, cloud-based approach. By streamlining and automating customer communications processes across all delivery channels, organizations can deliver a seamless customer experience, maximize their return on investment, and position themselves for success in the digital age. 

Rethinking Forms Processes: Digitally Transforming Transactions into Engaging Interactions 

This imperative extends beyond customer communications to encompass forms processes—a critical yet often overlooked aspect of the customer experience.  

Over the past several years, analysts like Kaspar Roos, the Founder and CEO of Aspire CCS, have been vocal about the evolution of Customer Communications Management (CCM) to Customer Experience Management (CXM).  

According to Roos, the forms sector, mirroring the broader CCM market, is undergoing its own transformation. He emphasizes the growing need for dedicated solutions to facilitate interactive data collection, validation, and processing as the market moves towards greater bi-directional interactions.  

The combination of customer communications and customer data collection, once modernized and transformed, together play pivotal roles in shaping the omnichannel customer interactions of tomorrow. 

Once modernized, the combination of customer communications and data collection together play criticial roles in shaping the future of omni-channel customer interactions. 

Legacy forms processes, characterized by manual, outdated, and disconnected practices, present a significant barrier to delivering seamless and cohesive customer experiences. Forms serve as a vital touchpoint between organizations and their customers, facilitating data collection and driving internal and external processes. Yet, despite their importance, forms processes have been largely neglected in the broader CX strategy, leading to a noticeable gap between digitally transformed customer communications and legacy-style form processes. 

According to Forrester, 82% of organizations still use paper-based processes to some extent. The ramifications of this oversight are profound. Customers are confronted with outdated, cumbersome forms processes that fail to meet their expectations for convenience and efficiency. Frustrated by the complexity and repetitive nature of these processes, customers are left feeling dissatisfied—a stark contrast to the seamless experiences they encounter in other digital interactions. In an era where every interaction should leave customers feeling recognized and valued, outdated forms processes fall short of meeting customer expectations for convenience and efficiency. 

Forrester reserach shows that 82% of organizations use paper-based processes to some extent.
 
Transitioning From Static Forms to Smarter Data Collection 

However, the tide is turning. By redefining what a “form” entails, organizations can transform static transactions into dynamic, intelligent interactions that leave customers feeling valued and empowered. 

Smart forms or data collection solutions leverage automation and intelligence to guide users through complex processes, adapting dynamically based on the information provided. By eliminating unnecessary fields and pre-filling data from existing databases, you will minimize customer effort, improve data accuracy, and enhance overall efficiency. 

Moreover, forms of the future facilitate bi-directional communication, simplifying interactions between customers and employees. Whether online or on a mobile device, these digital experiences enable seamless data exchange, leveraging features such as mobile cameras for enhanced functionality. By mimicking a conversation between the customer and the organization, smart data collection solutions foster engagement and reduce the likelihood of customer abandonment. 

Recognizing the critical role it plays in the CX landscape, organizations are beginning to integrate intelligent data collection into their broader CCM strategies. Smart Communications™ leads the charge with SmartIQ™—a revolutionary forms management solution designed to automate and transform data collection processes. 

Delivering Future-Ready Customer Conversations 

SmartIQ empowers organizations to create and manage digital forms with ease, leveraging a low-code web-based design tool that requires minimal IT intervention. By automating data sharing and streamlining business processes, SmartIQ enhances operational efficiency and reduces technical debt. 

Furthermore, SmartIQ’s analytics engine provides organizations with invaluable insights into process performance, enabling continuous improvement and optimization. Armed with detailed analysis, organizations can identify bottlenecks, refine processes, and enhance the overall customer experience. 

By embracing solutions like SmartIQ, organizations can bridge the gap between customer communications and forms processes, delivering future-ready customer conversations and reducing customer effort.  

The synergy between SmartCOMM™ and SmartIQ enables organizations to consolidate, centralize, and automate data collection processes and customer communications across all channels, unlocking a myriad of benefits. From reducing manual work and operating costs to ensuring data security and regulatory compliance, our industry-leading SaaS solutions empower organizations to keep pace with evolving customer expectations and drive sustainable growth. 

If you’re interested in learning how you can consolidate and modernize your customer communications solutions, one of our experts would be happy to provide a free consultation. If you’re looking to transform your forms processes with SmartIQ, I encourage you to request a demo, or visit our demo zone to see it in action. 

How the Conversation Cloud™ Earned Leader Status on Four Aspire Leaderboard Grids

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions 

Smart Communications is proud to see Conversation Cloud™ solutions placed in the Leader category on four distinct Aspire Leaderboard Grids in the July 2025 revision of the Aspire Leaderboard. Aspire CCS’ research recognizes early shifts in customer engagement technologies by technology capabilities, vertical industries, firmographics, location, and use cases.  

The Smart Communications team is excited to have fresh research that validates our strong market position and technology, but we’re prouder of how our customers engage with their clients every day. Visit our case study library for more on that. According to the updated vendor profile, “Smart Communications’ strategy is to empower enterprises to transform their customer communications through three core capabilities that directly impact business outcomes.”

Leadership Positions Across Four Market Categories 

Smart Communications earned leadership positions in the following categories on the Aspire Leaderboard’s July 2025 update: 

  • AnyPrem CCM
  • Vendor Hosted SaaS CCM
  • Interaction Experience Management (IXM)
  • CXP markets   

Furthermore, Smart Communications achieved a platform strength score of 97 in Vendor Hosted SaaS CCM—the highest score given to any vendor on any Aspire Leaderboard grid.  

Aspire’s scoring also reflects Smart Communications lead in Go to Market Strategy in both AnyPrem CCM and Vendor Hosted SaaS CCM, recognizing our focus on quickly solving the challenges of the highest stakes communications in highly regulated industries with leading SaaS capabilities.  

The Conversation Cloud Has Grown Since the 2024 Update 

The April acquisition of Joisto brought SmartHUB™’s powerful cloud-native archive capabilities to the Conversation Cloud in June. The addition enables our clients to seamlessly connect their communications and forms from creation to archival and retrieval and Aspire recognized this integrated approach with Leader placements in key Leaderboard grids. Check out the video below to learn more about SmartHUB:


  





Vendor Hosted SaaS CCM: Strong Platform Performance 

In the grid for Vendor Hosted SaaS, Smart Communications earned a platform strength score of 97. Out of 15 vendors evaluated, this represents the highest score for any vendor in any grid in this cycle of the Aspire Leaderboard. This score reflects the clear focus, maturity, and capabilities of Smart Communications’ cloud-native platform architecture.  

Smart Communications’ technology received the highest overall strategy score in this segment, supported by focused go-to-market execution. The Product and Vertical Marketing team members, including Eileen Potter for Insurance, John Zimmerer for Healthcare, Cindy Griffin for Financial Services, Sally Schulte for SmartIQ, and Chris Murphy for SmartCOMM, spend time with customers, prospects, and partners to collect data, refine use cases, and find solutions for the problems of complex communications in regulated industries.  

Interested in more industry- and technology-specific insights from our experts?
Click their names above for more advice to help you optimize the digital experiences you provide your customers. 

Customer Success Documentation 

While Smart Communications’ investment in people contributes to Smart Communications’ reputation as a reliable partner for enterprise transformation through their industry expertise and customer relationships, it also allows us to collect a lot of content. We maintain an extensive library of customer case studies and educational videos that demonstrate practical applications and business outcomes across various industry verticals, providing evidence of successful implementations. 

Our SmartIQ sample library has increased by a third since the last Aspire Leaderboard release, as more ready-to-use experiences are available for common data collection challenges across finance, insurance, and healthcare applications. Check out the video below to see how one our clients, The Bancorp, leveraged SmartIQ to reduce loan origination times by 98%, significantly enhancing the customer experience in this area: 































AnyPrem CCM: Navigating Market Evolution 

The AnyPrem CCM market reflects the present status of CCM technology as new communication applications move to the Vendor Hosted SaaS CCM market at increasing rates. As legacy technologies in the AnyPrem CCM market are decommissioned, this trend will continue to accelerate.  

Smart Communications earned Leader placement on this grid by offering a future-ready route  for organizations seeking to modernize customer and employee experiences. By providing clear migration paths away from many of the outdated technologies featured on this grid, Smart Communications empowers companies to meet the expanding needs of today’s digitally native customers as well as print-first customers. 

IXM: Advancing Interactive Experience Management 

Within the Interaction Experience Management grid, Smart Communications strengthened its position in IXM Differentiation. With a 2025 score of 67, Smart Communications broke from a four-vendor group with the same top score in 2024 to be recognized as the sole vendor with the top score in the differentiation category. Shifting to the scoring for the benefits of IXM, SmartIQ’s score of 70 represents a 40% advantage over the closest competitors, reflecting the transformational business outcomes, as demonstrated by customers like The Bancorp. 

Key Findings from Aspire 

The refreshed Aspire Leaderboards also include revised summaries and descriptions of the Smart Communications business and technology. Aspire observes, “Smart Communications has evolved from individual product offerings to an integrated platform approach, addressing enterprise requirements for seamless integration across multiple communication channels and consistent brand experience.” 

The research also offers, “This [Joisto] acquisition, as well as the launch of SmartPATH, puts Smart Communications in much stronger position for expansion in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, where communications tracking, real-time orchestration, and the analysis of document metadata is a vital component of superior customer experiences.”  




Market Position and Future Outlook 

Smart Communications’ recognition across four Aspire Leaderboard grids reflects a comprehensive strategy that has strengthened the company’s market position as well as the technology stacks of our customers. The combination of technical capabilities, strategic market approach, and customer focus has created competitive advantages across multiple market segments. 

As enterprises continue to prioritize customer communications management projects to meet rising customer expectations and reduce operating expenses, Smart Communications is positioned to support transformation initiatives while delivering measurable improvements in customer experience and operational efficiency. 

Ready to See What The Hype is All About?
Request a demo to see our products in action. Or, for more on how Smart Communications achieved the rankings outline in this blog, access the full Aspire Leaderboard Grids. 

Don’t Let Budget Season Catch You Unprepared: The Critical Importance of Early Vendor Research

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions 

Enterprise software budget processes are easy to delay, until it’s too late. Then, you find yourself stuck with legacy limitations for another year.  

Budgeting is complex and time-sensitive, yet too many organizations wait until the last minute to gather essential vendor information. This reactive approach leads to delayed decisions, incomplete evaluations, and ultimately, poor ROI outcomes that plague your organization for years. 

The Hidden Cost of Inadequate Vendor Research

When budget season arrives and you’re scrambling to compile vendor pricing, feature comparisons, and implementation timelines, you’re already behind. The most successful enterprise software investments begin with thorough vendor research conducted months before budget discussions even start.  

This preparation allows you to present comprehensive business cases backed by detailed cost-benefit analyses rather than rough estimates and hopeful projections. This type of preparation puts your project in position to get a “yes!” 

Transaction Structure: The Make-or-Break Factor for ROI

Beyond basic pricing and features, understanding how flexible vendors can structure their transactions is critical for achieving positive ROI quickly. Many publicly traded vendors are bringing heavy legacy approaches to their SaaS offerings.  

They continue to demand substantial upfront payments, extensive and expensive professional services contracts with high attach rates, and additional fees that delay meaningful returns by years. These legacy models from legacy providers prioritize vendor cash flow over client success, creating financial strain that undermines transformation initiatives. 

A Different Approach to Enterprise Partnerships 

Smart Communications represents a fundamentally different philosophy in vendor relationships. Rather than demanding large upfront investments that strain budgets and delay ROI, Smart Communications partners with clients through multiyear arrangements designed to accelerate time-to-value to deliver profit and performance faster than expected.  

Smart Communications’ innovation isn’t limited to our leading SaaS offerings. Innovation extends through the entire business, offering financing options that enable organizations to begin transformation and migration processes without the crushing financial burden that typically accompanies enterprise software implementations. 

Analyst reports are a powerful source of knowledge when researching vendor options. Get started by checking out our latest insights here. 

 Breaking Down Vendor Silos That Block Your Success

Traditional vendors often operate with internal silos that prioritize their own revenue recognition over client outcomes. This misalignment creates friction throughout implementation and ongoing support. Separate sales teams compete for product revenues in competitive portfolios.  

Any professional services discounts can create carve–outs and revenue deferrals that cause a salesperson to rapidly shift focus to another prospect. Smart Communications’ transaction structure aligns vendor success with client success, ensuring that your transformation goals remain the primary focus throughout the partnership. 

Start Your Research Today 

Don’t wait for budget season to begin your vendor evaluation process. Start gathering comprehensive vendor information now, with particular attention to transaction structures that support rapid ROI achievement.  

Done right, budget discussions will become strategic conversations rather than frantic scrambles that leave you and your customers to deal with legacy limitations for another year. Position your project for success in 2026 by partnering with a vendor aligned to your rapid ROI. 

Not The Decision Maker, But Interested in Making a Change?

Check out “Building a Business Case for Change: How to Secure Stakeholder Buy-In When Purchasing Enterprise Customer Communications Management (CCM) Software” to arm yourself with the right information to make the case for better CCM software. 

Is Legacy CCM a Hidden Liability in Your Enterprise CX Stack?

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications 

In today’s digital transformation landscape, organizations continue to rely on Customer Communications Management (CCM) implementations that predate smartphones. The recent 2025 SPARK Matrix™: Customer Communication Management (CCM) from QKS Group highlights the risks of keeping legacy CCM technology in production past its useful life.  

The report compares Smart Communications’ cloud-native architecture against competitive offerings; “unlike legacy CCM solutions that rely on containerized deployments, this platform is designed with microservices, enabling dynamic scalability and optimized resource utilization.” Ultimately, operating your legacy CCM technology past its useful life risks both new and existing customers at a time when customer experience (CX) is critical to customer acquisition and retention.  

These once–effective deployments struggle to meet today’s expectations for agility, personalization, and seamless customer experiences—creating business risk as technology gaps widen.   

What Are the Architectural Limitations of “Containerized Deployments?“ 

Many legacy CCM vendors boast about “moving to the cloud” in marketing materials and RFP responses. When you look deeper, their cloud-moves are “too little too late” as legacy vendors deliver containerized deployments of legacy technology in an attempt to look current. At Smart Communications, we refer to these as “SOSIAC“ solutions for short, as they are the “Same Old Software in a Container.” Upon further examination, during an RFP process or evaluation, CCM buyers discover these offerings lack the flexibility and scalability inherent in cloud-native offerings like SmartCOMM™. 

SmartCOMM delivers the standards of today and tomorrow. According to QKS’ SPARK Matrix for CCM, Smart Communications has a “modern cloud-native architecture, allowing enterprises to scale communications efficiently without infrastructure constraints.” While legacy vendors attempt to modernize through incremental updates and SOSIAC-solutions, SmartCOMM leverages “microservices, enabling dynamic scalability and optimized resource utilization” according to the report. 

The SPARK Matrix highlights the benefits of Smart Communications’ cloud-native architecture:  

“The availability of an API-driven architecture ensures flexibility in deployment, enabling organizations to connect their communication workflows to external data sources, automation tools, and business intelligence platforms. This approach supports a composable enterprise strategy, where organizations can extend their customer communication capabilities without significant IT dependencies.”  

Evidently, legacy CCM platforms are on the wrong side of an expanding capability gap. 

How Do Silos Fragment Customer Experience? 

Legacy CCM solutions encourage what QKS identifies as silos within communication channels. These silos are created by disconnected systems that force teams into redundant template creation in a channel-by-channel approach. This approach makes consistent, cross-channel messaging nearly impossible while adding cost and risk. Inconsistent messages drive outcomes that inspire confusion, create inbound calls, and—in extreme situations—drive customer churn. 

QKS’ 2025 SPARK Matrix agrees, stating that “[SmartCOMM] eliminates the silos commonly found in traditional CCM systems, where different communication types require separate workflows. By allowing real-time adjustments across digital and print channels, Smart Communications ensures consistency in messaging without requiring redundant template creation.” SmartCOMM’s approach eliminates the fragmentation that increasingly frustrates today’s customers. 

What Are the Costs of Delayed Modernization? 

Every quarter that your organization postpones the decommissioning of legacy CCM represents measurable opportunity costs. While “restructuring existing templates, workflows, and data models to align with a SaaS-based architecture requires extensive planning,” the alternative of maintaining data access, security, design consistency, and integrations between increasingly outdated systems is costing you more than you think. Delaying your digital transformation creates quantifiable, competitive disadvantages in customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and market responsiveness. 

Conclusion 

The recent perspectives from QKS suggest that legacy CCM is approaching an inflection point where maintaining these systems presents escalating business risk. Organizations continuing to rely on outdated communication platforms aren’t simply deferring modernization, they are failing to meet today’s customer needs by accepting constraints on customer experience capabilities and operational efficiency.  

As the market evolves faster, decommissioning legacy technology and migrating to modern platforms isn’t an option; it’s a requirement.  

Ready to learn more about how your organization can stay ahead of the game? Download a complimentary copy of the QKS Spark Matrix report here. 

About the Author 
Scott Draeger is the SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications. He has a passion for collaboration, and over 25 years of innovating customer communications technology, around the globe. He focuses on improving communications for the recipient while improving performance for the business. He started as a document designer using a collection of hardware and software technologies, before moving to the software side of the industry. He finds connections across disciplines with certifications in graphic design, customer experience, electronic documents, and an MBA in international business. 

5 Smart Moves to Prepare for the Trends Shaping Customer Conversations in 2025

Posted on by SmartComm

By Smart Communications 

In industries like healthcare, financial services, and insurance, businesses face the dual challenge of meeting customer expectations while also navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Emerging technologies, changing regulations, and a push toward greater personalization are all playing key roles in reshaping customer engagement.  

In this article, you’ll read the five trends driving this transformation and the smart moves your organization can make to keep pace. 

Smart Move #1: Enhance Data Quality to Support AI Initiatives 

Why It Matters: Businesses that harness the power of AI to improve customer experience need high-quality data to fuel those AI initiatives. Whether it’s using AI for predictive customer service, personalization, or operational efficiencies, poor data can lead to inaccurate results, regulatory violations, or missed opportunities. For highly regulated industries, this is especially critical. 

How to Prepare: Implement robust data governance frameworks to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and compliance of your data. Invest in data cleaning and validation tools that ensure all customer interactions are backed by high-quality, secure data. In regulated sectors like healthcare, financial services, and insurance, proper data management is foundational to both AI success and regulatory compliance. 

Example: A healthcare provider using AI to predict patient outcomes needs a centralized, high-quality dataset to generate reliable predictions and comply with privacy laws like HIPAA. 

Smart Move #2: Navigate Regulatory and Ethical AI Challenges 

Why It Matters: With AI becoming more pervasive, the regulatory landscape is evolving. Companies in healthcare, financial services, and insurance must contend with a maze of regulations that govern everything from data privacy to algorithmic transparency. Ethical concerns, such as bias in AI models and the security of customer data, are also top priorities. 

How to Prepare: Review current and upcoming regulations in your industry to ensure AI models are designed with compliance and ethics in mind. Develop and document an ethical framework for AI use, considering fairness, transparency, and data privacy. By aligning AI strategies with both regulatory requirements and ethical standards, your organization can reduce legal risk and build customer trust. 

Example: A financial services company using AI for loan approvals must ensure its models don’t unintentionally discriminate based on race, gender, or other protected factors, in compliance with fair lending laws. 

Smart Move #3: Modernize Technology Stack to Overcome Technical Debt 

Why It Matters: Technical debt is a growing issue for many businesses, particularly those with legacy systems in place. The risk? Slow, outdated technology can hinder innovation, frustrate customers, and result in costly delays. For industries like healthcare and financial services, technical debt can also complicate compliance and data management efforts. 

How to Prepare: Begin by assessing your current tech stack and identifying areas where modernization will have the most impact. Whether it’s moving to the cloud, upgrading legacy systems, or adopting new platforms for customer communication, taking action now will set your company up for future success. Prioritize scalability and flexibility to ensure your infrastructure can support changing customer expectations and regulatory requirements. 

Example: An insurance company could modernize its claims management system to speed up processing times, reduce errors, and stay in line with evolving regulatory demands. 

Smart Move #4: Leverage Data and AI to Create Personalized Experiences 

Why It Matters: Customers expect personalized, real-time interactions. By leveraging data and AI, companies can deliver tailored recommendations, anticipate customer needs, and provide proactive solutions. In regulated industries, personalization also means ensuring compliance with privacy regulations while still offering a personalized experience. 

How to Prepare: Integrate AI-driven customer engagement platforms that use data to personalize interactions. This could mean offering personalized health advice, investment recommendations, or insurance policy renewals. However, it’s crucial to ensure that these interactions comply with privacy laws like GDPR in the EU or HIPAA in the U.S., especially when dealing with sensitive customer data. 

Example: A financial institution using AI to offer personalized savings or investment tips based on customer spending behavior can enhance customer loyalty while staying compliant with financial regulations. 

Smart Move #5: Prioritize Continuous Innovation to Drive Market Share 

Why It Matters: The fast pace of technological change means businesses can’t afford to stand still. Continuous innovation is crucial for staying competitive and retaining market share. For highly regulated industries, this means finding ways to enhance operational efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and ensure compliance—all while remaining agile. 

How to Prepare: Foster a culture of innovation by continuously exploring new technologies, from AI to automation. Implement agile processes that allow your business to adapt to market shifts, customer demands, and regulatory changes. Companies that prioritize innovation are better positioned to capture market share and drive long-term success. 

Example: An insurance company focused on continuous improvement might invest in automation to streamline claims processing, reducing response times and improving customer satisfaction, all while remaining compliant with insurance regulations. 

Preparing for the Future of Customer Conversations 

The trends shaping customer conversations in 2025 offer both challenges and opportunities for businesses in highly regulated industries. From enhancing data quality to embracing AI-driven personalization, the key to customer loyalty lies in adapting to these shifts in a way that meets expectations while staying compliant with ever-changing regulations. By focusing on data governance, ethical AI, strategic modernization, and continuous innovation, your company will be better positioned to thrive in 2025 and beyond. 

Start preparing today by evaluating your current strategies and investing in the technologies that will help you build stronger, more compliant customer relationships. The future of customer communication is here—and it’s evolving fast. 

Ready for Deeper Insights? 

For more information about the 5 Trends Shaping Customer Conversations in 2025, download your complimentary copy of the report today. 

The Power of a Unified Document Generation Platform: Consolidating Document Creation Systems

Posted on by SmartComm

By Smart Communications

If your organization is to remain successful in this competitive, ever-evolving landscape, effective communication with your customers is more crucial than ever. That’s where a sophisticated Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform comes into play. 

 In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of using a centralized CCM platform to streamline your customer communications management processes. 

What Is Unified CCM Platform? 

A unified Customer Communications platform consolidates all your channel-specific customer communication tools into a single, unified system. Unlike traditional methods that rely on disparate technology—which can lead to chaos, inefficiency and inconsistency—a unified platform integrates various communication channels into one. 

Key Features  

Here’s what to expect from a consolidated, cloud-based CCM platform: 

  • Centralized Data Management: Access all your customer information in one place, making it easy to keep communications accurate, personalized, and timely. 

  • Streamlined Workflows: Automate processes to reduce manual effort, ensuring your communications reach customers at the right time, on the right channel. 

  • Multichannel Integration: Manage communications across email, SMS, social media, and more—all from one platform. 

Benefits of Unifying CCMs

Centralized Data Management

A unified CCM platform ensures precise and relevant communications by pulling variable data from core systems and organizing it in a single location. 

Streamlined Workflows 

Automating communication processes lets you focus on strategic initiatives rather than repetitive tasks, boosting your team’s productivity. 

Improved Consistency and Compliance 

A consolidated platform helps you maintain a consistent experience and brand voice across all channels, while adhering to industry regulations – vital in sectors like finance and healthcare. 

Personalization at Scale 

You can simplify the personalization of communications to meet customer needs, resulting in higher engagement and satisfaction. 

Cost Savings and Efficiency Gains  

Consolidating multiple systems into a single CCM platform significantly cuts costs associated with software maintenance and staff training. 

Future Trends in CCM Platforms 

As technology evolves, so do the capabilities of modern CCM platforms.  Key trends to keep an eye on include: 

Artificial Intelligence and Automation
These innovations are becoming integral to CCM platforms, enabling smarter communication strategies that anticipate customer needs and automate routine tasks. 

Enhanced Analytics and Reporting
Advanced analytics tools will offer deeper insights into customer behavior, helping you refine your communication strategies. 

Omni-Channel Engagement
The future will focus on providing truly integrated multi-channel experiences, allowing your customers to engage seamlessly across different platforms. 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, having a consolidated approach to customer communications gives you the flexibility to adapt, personalize, and engage across multiple channels with ease.  

A centralized CCM platform also positions you to leverage emerging technologies like AI and analytics, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and anticipate your customers’ needs in ways that build loyalty and satisfaction. 

Why a Unified CCM Platform is Essential

A modern CCM platform is more than just a tool—it’s a strategic asset that empowers your organization to communicate effectively, consistently, and at scale.  

By centralizing your data and automating workflows, you reduce complexity and ensure every interaction with your customers is relevant, timely, and compliant.  

This level of organization and efficiency not only cuts costs, it also creates a solid foundation for building trust and long-lasting relationships with your customers. 

Think You’re Behind the Ball? It’s Not Too Late to Consolidate!

The reality is that many large organizations—especially those in highly regulated industries like financial services, insurance, and healthcare—are still relying on multiple outdated, channel-specific solutions for managing customer communications. You’re not alone! 

The good news is that migrating to a unified, modern solution like SmartCOMM™ is easier than you might think. You can retire those legacy systems that are dragging down your staff productivity and your bottom line. At Smart Communications, we have extensive experience migrating hundreds of clients from legacy solutions such as OpenText, Oracle Documaker, Quadient Inspire, ISIS Papyrus, DOPiX, Conga, and more. 

We can help you streamline your customer communications with a platform that supports your growth and enhances efficiency. Don’t let outdated systems hold you back—it’s time to make the smart move! 

Ready to Transform Your Customer Communications? 

To learn how a consolidated strategy can benefit your organization, request a migration consultation.  

 

Simplifying Legacy CCM to Cloud Vendor Migration

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications

When confronted with technical debt, it’s easy to look the other way. Many organisations have customer communications applications that have been running for ten, or even twenty, years. As technology improves, you may find that your team feels like they are working for the technology, rather than having the technology work for your team. As budget cycles pass, these applications get older. They consume more resources, create more risk, and block innovations that your customers deserve. But, with cloud-based Customer Communications Management (CCM), modernising your CCM technology doesn’t have to be taxing. 

Cloud-native applications like SmartCOMM™ and SmartIQ™ are proven to create effective communications at scale, while meeting security requirements and flexibly scaling to handle peak loads at the most demanding times of your team’s year. Leading Australian banks can produce over 60 million pages per hour with SmartCOMM. High–profile and high–security use cases, like passport and visa communications, have shifted away from home-grown systems to transformed experiences using SmartIQ. Smart Communications’ recent cybersecurity assessment boasts high scores in every category. Leading government agencies in Australia, and elsewhere, are reducing costs and increasing flexibility by moving to cloud-based solutions. 

Transformation is Faster Than You Think

Many agencies believe they are saddled with technical debt, because migration is expensive. Your current vendor may offer an upgrade to newer technology, but that upgrade may not have migration tools, skilled migration practices, or experience with your applications. Often, upgrades require your agency to pay to maintain two complete systems while also paying time and materials for expensive vendor-supplied services staff. With that type of expense, it’s no wonder upgrades are avoided for a decade or more. 

Smart Communications uses a combination of software, AI technology, and experts to quickly turn your existing output into the first communications of your transformed customer experience. Smart Communications’ approach to omnichannel communications emphasises content to make it easier to communicate clearly across the full range of your customers, using a wide array of channels, accommodating diverse accessibility needs, and conforming to data privacy legislation. This approach automates the migration of text content, images, data and other key assets. This accelerates the transformation of your customer communications.  

After completing the swift migration, we transition the project to the customer, allowing them to focus on internal enhancements and ongoing sustainment. Customers establish in-house centres of excellence, empowering business users to take ownership of their processes. This shift puts you in position to improve employee experience by eliminating hard coded changes to multiple systems, removing redundant channel-based design work, and reducing the risk of errors due to application complexity.  

Ready to Integrate?

Legacy technology is not always compatible with current technology. As a result, agencies spend a lot of effort developing around software limitations. Leading solutions are cloud-native, allowing for easy integration with systems via APIs that accelerate your deployments, increase flexibility, and reduce risk. As you consider portfolios, some CCM vendors offer a wide variety of technology, but it is often not integrated, not available in the cloud, or not compatible with other technologies you need. As the leader in cloud-native CCM, Smart Communications can provision your system in under two hours, while others require many meetings and delays before your tenancies can be created. 

Regain Control of Critical Agency Applications 

Over time, applications on legacy platforms become difficult to manage. Incompatible software and hardware upgrade cycles collide with integration requirements to make even simple changes difficult to execute. None of this matches your budget and planning calendars. Over time, this increases reliance on external contractors with increasingly expensive sets of highly specialized domains of expertise. When simple changes take considerably more time from increasingly more expensive contractors, your organization loses time, budget, and control of how you communicate with your customers.  

How Do You Work with Agencies? 

Smart Communications understands your organisation as well as we understand your application. Because we understand your business, Smart Communications can create transformation programs that closely match your investment to your savings. This is done by creating multi-year transactions that consider your lower initial volumes, to phase in your investment while you phase in your new technology. Additionally, professional services expenses can be spread over the term of the agreement as well, allowing you to propose a solution that doesn’t triple your year one expenses. 

Understanding your staff, budget cycles, and organisational needs allows Smart Communications to propose solutions that can pass your planning process, deploy rapidly, and deliver early initial results. 

Smart Communications has tools, technology, partners, and experts to support rapid transformations which enable you to secure a long-postponed CCM upgrade through your planning process, to your team, and most importantly to your customers.

4 Steps to Prepare for a Pain-Free Legacy CCM Migration Process

Posted on by Chris Murphy

By: Chris Murphy, VP Product Marketing at Smart Communications

Adapting to the always-connected customer has become a catalyst for digital transformation – especially now as we adjust to the new norms brought forth by COVID-19. When it comes to customer communications management software (CCM), more organizations are finding that their legacy print system models and applications are turning into roadblocks and preventing agility. These fragmented systems are unable to communicate efficiently across business units and company divisions. Nor can they easily integrate with marketing, eCommerce, and CRM systems to coordinate data and messaging, which leads to a disjointed customer experience.

The good news is, you don’t have to become victim to an outdated legacy system. Here are four key steps to follow to prepare for a seamless CCM migration and ensure you are well-equipped to digitally transform your customer communications.

1. Understand the Goal of The CCM Migration

Gaining consensus on the why of your CCM platform migration is crucial, but sometimes overlooked part of obtaining organizational buy-in and the successful fruition of any digital transformation project. Is the impetus of considering a new customer communications management strategy driven by compliance reasons, core system modernization, to reduce risk, to centralize communications across lines of business, to reduce costs, to instill more agility into communications strategy, to better empower business users, or maybe to provide an overall better customer experience?

While all these may be realized benefits of moving to a modern CCM solution, the primary driving reason will help to dictate not only the core buying and evaluation group that you’ll need to work with but also the key performance indicators and success metrics that you’ll use to quantify the success of the project.

Explore these real-world success stories of organizations that are mastering CCM migrations with Smart Communications. 

2. Determine Which Deployment Option is Best

As more organizations begin to adopt and develop a cloud-first strategy, it’s likely that your organization has already discussed the option of leveraging an enterprise application in the cloud. Before jumping head-first into a migration, it’s important to ensure everyone has a basic understanding of not only the options available but also the benefits of each approach in order to determine on the best approach for your company.

  • Software as a Service (SaaS): A method of software delivery in which software is licensed and then accessed online via a subscription, rather than being purchased for installation.
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS): A cloud computing model in which a provider delivers hardware and software (typically those needed for application development). The provider hosts the hardware and software on its own infrastructure, rather than requiring users to install in-house.
  • Cloud: Simply put, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet. These services are offered as either public or private cloud. With public clouds, all hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure are owned and operated by a third-party service provider and users share those resources with other organizations or “tenants”. With a private cloud, resources are exclusively used by one organization either via an on-site data center, or a hosted data center. Either way, the services, and infrastructure are on a private network with hardware and software dedicated solely to one organization.
  • Hybrid Cloud: A combination of on-premise and public/private cloud, each performing distinct functions, with orchestration between the platforms.
  • Managed Service: A deployment model in which a third party manages a customer’s IT infrastructure and/ or end-user systems remotely, requiring hosting, management, and staffing costs.

3. Assess Your Digital Readiness

This might be your most important step in the process because it will show you exactly how ready your organization is to make the leap to a more modern, cloud-based service. As part of any CCM migration process, it’s important to consider whether or not to add digital channel production to your existing print operations. First, you’ll want to evaluate your print operations to see which document types can most easily be digitized. Begin by measuring print volume by department, categorizing types of printed collateral, and identifying types of customers receiving print documents. Start creating a content inventory list that covers basic metrics surrounding the total number of communication documents and templates you have, the total number or percentage of reusable content, volumes by document, and which department owns the content. It’s also important to start thinking about the complexity of the documents – are they easily converted to digital channels or are they very complex – these may up end up being prioritized later in the migration process. This process allows you to trace and quantify your current reliance on printed collateral while recognizing any knowledge gaps that exist so you can perform a CCM migration efficiently and effectively.

4. Know Your Existing Cost Model

Cost is always one of the biggest issues when it comes to justifying a migration strategy business case. When starting the cost evaluation process, most businesses realize they know a lot less about their full cost model than they thought they did. Depending on how many communication documents, forms, and templates need to migrate, and how they’re currently being generated, it can be confusing to put a figure on it. If you don’t have a comprehensive view of the current cost model, it can be hard to make a migration strategy business case look positive to key stakeholders.

While some of us are lucky to have a corporate decision that’s driving migration out to the cloud, having a clear picture of your all-in costs (don’t forget on-premise maintenance and operational costs, print and mail delivery costs, etc.) will only benefit you in the long run by setting realistic expectations upfront. Working with a vendor to establish a solid ROI calculation or looking at similar total cost of ownership (TCO) studies can also be an invaluable input into any evaluation decision criteria.

Let’s face it, change is hard. But, remember that your customers’ lives are changing, so to stay ahead of the game, your organization must be willing to change too.

Are you ready for a more simplified, pain-free legacy migration? Discover how our CCM migration solutions reduces cost, time, and complexity.

Outsourcing Communications: Can Non-Core Activity Cause a Meltdown? Yes.

Posted on by Scott Draeger

By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing & Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications 

Many banks, building societies, insurers, and government agencies routinely outsource customer communications. These organizations consider the production of customer communications to be a “non-core” business activity. But when a service bureau experiences financial difficulties, these organizations scramble to contain the damage of a communication meltdown. Recent developments at Communisis, as covered by Printweek, are a cautionary tale for organizations that outsource too much of the valuable part of their voice to a third party. 

Suddenly, many leading organizations learned that lawyers, businesspeople, and consultants in other countries are important stakeholders in their customer communication supply chain. “More broadly, we [Communisis] have been working closely with our advisors, customers and stakeholders over the past few months to explore a number of strategic options which will enable Communisis to move forward independently on a positive and sustainable footing,” per a Communisis spokesperson as quoted by Printweek.  

For organizations outsourcing communications, chaos at a key supplier throws leadership teams into crisis mode for a supposedly low-risk “non-core” activity. We have evidence that has firmly established that communication is a core business activity. At a minimum, impacted organizations have been forced into wasting months of effort in crisis management activities, massively increasing the cost of a “non-core” activity. 

Organizations that internally manage the design, content, rules, and other IP associated with their customer communications are immune to situations like this. The design, content, rules, and other IP that form the customer experience layer of your business should be entirely within your control. Smart Communications' clients using SmartCOMM™ and/or SmartIQ™ have total control over their voice across all channels and interactions while retaining the flexibility to manage the truly non-core production process in any way they choose. 

Leaders have already been moving in this direction by shifting to digital communications. According to the Printweek article, “Its [Communisis’] transactional print business took a big hit with sales down 20% as banking customers accelerated their migration to digital comms.” This demonstrates the degree to which banks, and other industries, are regaining control over their digital communications. 

Take notice of this situation, as hundreds of millions of communications in the UK will experience a change in the supply chain. Hopefully, it will be invisible to the customers and recipients due to the heroic efforts of reactive leadership teams. For you, it is far better to avoid the chance of a “non-core” meltdown by retaining control of the design, rules, content, and other IP that support your customer relationships. Learn why Smart Communications has earned the only “Customer First” award for Customer Communications Management from Gartner. 

Discover how The Conversation Cloud makes it easy for highly regulated industries to maintain compliance and mitigate risk, or get in touch for a CCM Migration Consultation.