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.

Â

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.