CSA: Customer Satisfaction Audit 2006

The
DQ-IDC Customer Satisfaction Audit 2006 finds overall satisfaction levels rise
significantly, vendors getting more aggressive and competitive on price across
categories, and CIOs looking for a complete portfolio of services from their
suppliers

How
Satisfied Is the CIO?

The Indian CIO has become one of the most difficult customers to please over the
years. Ask some of the vendors and they would surely agree. But that's
understandable given the larger role that IT heads play in today's
enterprises. Their responsibilities are no longer confined to just being
technologists. Today, CIOs are more hands-on with IT budgets and play a
significantly strategic role in organizations. It's not enough to just
showcase the best technology, features and technical support and services to the
CIO. One needs to align these with the long-term goals of the company while
offering the best price and RoI.

It is again
that time of the year to revisit the Indian CIO check out what it is that
satisfies him the most; and the names (read vendors) that have managed to
perform the best on the CIO satisfaction parameters.

color:windowtext;font-weight:normal">In the fourth edition of the Dataquest-IDC
Customer Satisfaction Audit, the CSA 2006, we look at customer satisfaction with
respect to five categories-desktops, notebooks, servers, enterprise
applications and IT services.

CSA 2006: Desktops color:windowtext">

It's good news for the desktop vendor community. The overall satisfaction
score at 84.3 this year is up two percentage points from last year. However,
unlike in the past, the CIO today wants more bang for the buck. Products and
post-sales support are no longer the only derivatives of satisfaction for IT
chiefs. Satisfaction levels on key factors like pre-sales and marketing; price
and commercials; and delivery and installation have gone up
significantly-satisfaction scores rise by nearly two percentage points on all
the- parameters.

Interestingly,
a key area of concern for today's price-conscious Indian CIO is total cost of
ownership. Vendors should also be able to offer value for money with respect to
any purchase while pulling down the TCO of desktops. While all vendors have
obviously taken note of the price-conscious Indian market and shown significant
improvement on the satisfaction levels over last year, Indian price warrior
Zenith seems to have beaten everyone in the game. Close at its heels is IBM-Lenovo,
while there's tough competition between HCL and HP for the third place. Two
players who seem to have lost some steam during the last one year are Wipro and
Dell. However, while Wipro has actually performed better over the last year, it
is Dell, which has slipped badly on price point.

Desktop Vendor Ranks
BrandÂ	Rank-06	Rank-05
IBM-Lenovo	1	5
Zenith	2	4
HP	3	2
Wipro	4	7
assembled	5	6
HCL Insys	6	3
Dell	7	1
Up  Down   Unchanged

 

 

 

Dell's drop
this year is startling. From being the leading vendor last year, Dell slipped on
all parameters. But the most worrying are overall product offerings, and both
pre-sales service and marketing and post sales service. Post sales service is an
area that should worry HCL as well, with all other vendors, including the
assembled players, faring far better.

CSA 2006 shows
some upheaval in terms of overall ranks. IBM-Lenovo has clearly learned from its
mistakes, and the new entity has pulled up from being #5 last year to establish
itself as the leader in desktops. Following close is Zenith, which has replaced
HP for the second spot. However, competition between the two remains stiff with
the statistical significance of the difference in their satisfaction scores
being marginal. Zenith has topped on key derivatives like pre-sales and
marketing, post sales service, price and commercials, and delivery and
installation. The assembled players remain a reckoning force in the market,
especially when it comes to after sales service, and delivery and installation.

color:windowtext;font-weight:normal">All major vendors except Dell, Wipro, HCL
and the assembled players have registered satisfaction scores above the industry
average of 84.3. While Wipro has upped its satisfaction score this year, it
fails, only marginally, to score above the industry average because the industry
has raised its bar significantly. However, nearly all major vendors have got
their act together, with Dell being the only exception.

CSA 2006: Notebooks color:windowtext">

It's the same story for notebooks as well. The overall rankings have gone
completely topsy-turvy as compared to CSA 2005. Again, things have gone
completely wrong for Dell on all fronts, with the company slipping from the
second place last year to the bottom of the chart. The stronger IBM-Lenovo
combine has beaten HP in the notebook space as well, with Acer picking itself up
from the bottom of the rung last year to take the second spot.

Notebook Vendor Ranks
BrandÂ	Rank-06	Rank-05
IBM-Lenovo	1	3
Acer	2	5
HP	3	1
Toshiba	4	4
Dell	5	2
Up  Down   Unchanged

Notebooks have
also gone the desktop way when it comes to overall satisfaction, which has
inched up significantly in CSA 2006. CIOs have expressed high degree of
satisfaction towards IBM's overall product offerings and post sales service.
Acer has got its act together this year on both price, and pre-sales and
marketing. Acer's climb is rather dramatic as the company has shown an
improvement of over nine percentage points this year.

In the notebook
space, overall product offerings remains the most critical derivative of
satisfaction, and CIOs have expressed a significantly higher degree of
satisfaction for the IBM brand (now Lenovo). Unlike other categories, CIOs seem
to attach the same degree of importance to all four parameters-pre sales and marketing, price, post sales service, and delivery and
installation.

Although Dell
remained at the bottom of the table, it would be interesting to note that the
company has not really slipped in terms of its satisfaction scores last year.
However, all competitors have upped their performances, leaving Dell far behind.
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color:windowtext;font-weight:normal">Price does not appear to be the most
important derivative of satisfaction for CIOs in the case of notebooks. However,
factors like low TCO and value for money for any purchase remain critical
factors when it comes to price. IT chiefs expressed high satisfaction for Acer
notebooks. Acer, despite its competitive rates, was not able to convey the price
advantage, thereby coming at the bottom of the satisfaction charts last year.
This year, however, Acer climbed 10 percentage points on the price front to make
it to the top.

CSA 2006: Servers

color:windowtext">

HP's  done it again. It has not
only topped the satisfaction charts in the server category but also left its
biggest competitor, IBM, behind by a healthy margin. HP stays unshaken at the
top of the satisfaction chart. Overall satisfaction levels are up which seems to
be a trend this year. Vendors are obviously leaving no stones unturned to ensure
that they are able to offer the best deals to the CIO. This is also indicative
of the stiff competition across product categories today.

Product
dominates as the most critical derivative of satisfaction, while post sales
service emerges as the second-most critical parameter in CSA 2006. In fact, CIO
preferences remain completely unaltered when it comes to servers. Interestingly,
price continues to remain least important in the server category. With servers
being usually associated with mission-critical applications, several other
factors play a critical role in the satisfaction quotient. However, as
competition in the space heats up, it is the turn of CIOs to smile as vendors go
overboard trying to woo them on all counts, including price.

 

While HP may
not have topped on all counts, it is again the company's consistent
performance that sees it through to the top. Put simply, HP has only done better
what it was already doing well in the past.

Server Vendor Ranks
BrandÂ	Rank-06	Rank-05
HP	1	1
SUN	2	4
Wipro	3	5
IBM	4	2
HCL	5	6
Note: Acer was not included in the server category this year Up  Down   Unchanged

color:windowtext;font-weight:normal">HCL Infosystems stays at the bottom of the
charts on most satisfaction derivatives. Sun has beefed up on all parameters
offering much more attractive portfolio of products and deals to the customers.
This is reflected in the high satisfaction ratings the vendors received this
year. Sun's and Wipro's gain is IBM's loss, which has to stay content at
the number four position. However, the statistical significance of the
difference in satisfaction scores between Wipro and IBM is very low which
indicates, one, the intensity of competition, and two, the complexity of dealing
with a larger installation base-as in the case of IBM.

CSA 2006: Enterprise
Applications color:windowtext">

The picture has not quite altered in the case of enterprise applications. Ramco
stays on top this year as well, but by an insignificant margin. However,
competition in this segment seems to have heated up, especially if one looks at
the first three vendors in the chart.