Features

CSA 2007: Desktops

DQI Bureau

28 Jan 2007 00:00 IST

New Update

Desktops continued to remain the most common item on the IT menu of
Indian enterprises, notwithstanding the growing trend toward laptops.
Consequently, the desktop vendor community remained busy throughout the year as
they all went out to curry favor with their customers and improve satisfaction.
This was the imperative as CIOs have become even more discerning about their
desktop vendors. That the overall satisfaction score has dropped by nearly two
points from last year is ample proof of this. Also, the fact that product and
post sales service have become the most important satisfaction parameters shows
the growing maturity of Indian corporates.

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Desktop: Satisfaction Scores
	Industry	Dell	HCL	HP-Compaq	Lenovo-IBM	Wipro	Zenith	Assembled
Product (100)	85.3	85.7	84.6	87.9	86.3	85.8	80.6	83.3
Pre Sales & Marketing (86)	83.2	82.2	84.7	85.8	82.9	84.4	78.8	80.7
Price & Commercial (79)	81.8	82.6	82.6	82.1	80.6	83.4	79.2	83.1
Delivery & Installation (71)	81.8	81.5	82.3	83.7	79.9	82.5	78.3	82.8
Post Sales Service (92)	80.7	77.9	81.3	81.9	80.3	82.0	77.5	81.3
Base: 584 CIOs
How satisfied are CIOs with their desktop vendors, on five key parameters? The table lists scores derived from CIO responses to a range of questions. Figures in brackets indicate relative importance of the parameters as stated by respondents. Figures in blue represent the maximum and in red the minimum in each category

Most CIOs are not just satisfied with the reliability and
functionality of HP-Compaq desktops, they are extremely happy with its pre-sales
and marketing efforts as well as its delivery and installation mechanism. Wipro
too has earned the plaudits of a large number of CIOs on both these counts; its
post-sales service efforts especially the time to respond and quality of
interaction with the services team too have made it popular with Indian
enterprises. Lenovo-IBM, however, trips up on the delivery and installation
front; maybe the fact that IBM still remains the services arm of Lenovo (under a
five-year contract) has resulted in lack of co-ordination between the two.

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Desktop Vendor Ranks
Brand	Rank '07	Rank '06	Change
HP- Compaq	1	3	^
Wipro	2	4	^
HCL	3	6	^
Assembled	4	5	^
IBM/Lenovo	5	1	v
Dell	6	7	^
Zenith	7	2	v
^ Up v Down
Zenith saw a sharp drop in satisfaction, due to delivery issues, inability to resolve problems (post sales service), and lack of pricing clarity. IBM/Lenovo has also dropped somewhat, due to lower credit offered, and delivery and installation issues (demos, training)

A majority of the CIOs are still not happy with the credit offered by most
vendors, one reason why assembled desktops are still holding their own

Note: Not to scale

Zenith's popularity graph seems to be heading southward; many
CIOs account for the non-availability of spare parts and Zenith's unfriendly
credit regime to account for their dissatisfaction. In fact, most CIOs are
unhappy with credit facilities offered by most desktop vendors; this perhaps
explains why assembled desktops continue to remain in demand. Dell's direct
selling model does not seem to have been matched by its post-sales efforts;
spare parts are not available, interaction with the services team is not
satisfactory, etc, but Dell has improved its score and rank marginally.

Desktops: The Top Two Parameters
Product	Industry	Dell	HCL	HP-Compaq	Lenovo-IBM	Wipro	Zenith	Assembled
Product Reliability	87.0	86.8	87.0	90.4	87.8	87.5	81.1	83.5
Product Functionality	84.6	85.9	84.0	86.9	85.0	85.2	80.8	82.7
Convenience in operation & adoption of the product	84.7	84.5	83.2	87.1	86.4	84.9	80.0	83.8
Post Sales Service
Always available for technical queries	82.3	79.1	84.0	84.1	82.3	82.0	79.3	81.6
Expertise of the vendor to resolve problem	80.4	79.6	80.2	81.4	79.8	83.7	75.9	80.8
Availability of spare parts	79.0	74.7	80.6	79.1	78.8	78.6	77.4	81.1
Interaction with service team	81.1	78.2	80.6	83.1	80.5	83.4	77.7	81.9
Note: The satisfaction scores are on a 100-point scale with 100 indicating the highest degree of satisfaction-very satisfied Base: 584 CIOs Product and pre sales emerge as the two most importance derivatives of satisfaction. The HP-Compaq combine delivers highly on overall product offerings that helps it take the top position in the overall satisfaction scorecard

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Pricing still remains a sensitive issue with CIOs and it is
exactly here that local vendors like Wipro, HCL or even the assembled guys score
over their illustrious MNC counterparts. Looking at who offers the bang for the
bucks versus the total cost of ownership, these local vendors (barring Zenith )
come up trumps, though the likes of HP-Compaq or Lenovo-IBM are regarded as
better products and more convenient to adopt and operate.

'Support is an integrated
part of the entire process-from pre sales and marketing to deployment'

-Ajit Kumar,
country
manager, Global Delivery, HP India

What are the customer service
initiatives that HP has put in place?

At HP, key service initiatives include communicating with the customer
during and after the service event, account management (dedicated
resources to build relationships with key accounts), soft skill training
to the entire team, including partners, on customer delight , e-chat,
remote diagnostics, etc.

In terms of customer service/support,
how does HP differentiate itself from its competitors?

HP's key differentiators are its fault-free CTR process (committed time
to repair), investments on skilled direct resources in the field, a true
24x7 support infrastructure in the country supported by strong back-end
technical support from Global Competencey Centers, E2E handholding of each
call, deployment of HP's unique tools like ISEE (Instant Support
Enterprise Edition) for proactive call management.

How are the global best practices in
this sphere assimilated into the Indian scenario?

Some of the global best practices that HP assimilates into the Indian
scenario include world wide processes around CTR, spares planning, global
solution centers, global competency centers, and extensive global training
and certification

What are the fundamental differences
in the nature of support services in India from those in global markets?

The fundamental, unique challenges that surround the nature of support
services in India revolve around high growth, 24x7 availability and higher
product life cycle expectations. Other differentiators are the need for
high resolution commitments and high customer expectations.

The following four criteria would be
crucial for any post-sales service functions: Responsive (always available
for technical queries), Expertise (to resolve problem), Availability (of
spare parts), and Quality (of interaction with customers). How would HP
rate itself on each of these?

Responsive: high with the HP 24x7 call centers. Expertise: high with
global training and certification process supported by global competencey
centers worldwide. Availability: high investment in spares managed through
worldwide forecasting tools. Quality: complete team undergoes soft skill
training on customer delight. Key Accounts managed through dedicated
account relationship managers.

How does the support team function
complement with the pre-sales and marketing, and the deployment and
installation teams?

Support is an integrated part of the entire process-from pre sales and
marketing to deployment.

Does the style of support
service/functions differ across different verticals, with HP servers'
customer base spanning across verticals?

The basic core support structure is common, while customization takes
place in terms of SLAs; personalized service agents are created for
different verticals.

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