Omni-channel engagement is the new gold standard for retailers and any business interested in growing its customer base. The ideal is simple: Customers should be able to communicate with service providers using any means – phone, web, social networks, email, text, and more – and receive prompt, personalized responses.

Although the idea is simple, achieving it is far less so. Most retailers say there are factors holding them back from creating that consistent, single-view customer experience, and “lack of technology” is the highest-ranked challenge. As customer demographics trend more toward younger consumers who are fully connected and practically dependent on technology – omni-channel engagement becomes an increasingly critical consideration.

This Tech Roundup delivers relevant articles from pre-eminent thinkers and industry executives, writing for leading IT media outlets TechRepublic and ZDNet. This editorial reference guide provides you with objective information on the omni-channel trend, and it presents several key takeaways to help guide your adoption of the relevant technologies.