InformationWeek.com

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

November 16, 1998

Behind The Numbers:
Sizing Up The Integrators

bar chart

hose of us known politely as "vertically challenged" are particularly grateful for the invention of basketball leagues for "under 6-foot" players. But in pro ball, a team of average-height hoopsters would have trouble competing against the graceful giants of the NBA.

Do IT managers who line up products, services, or consulting engagements want to work with the biggest and best-known systems integrators--or do they prefer more "average"-size companies?

For our "Analyzing the Integrators" project (p. 45), InformationWeek Research conducted a telephone survey of 380 IT managers who share responsibility for their organizations' relationships with systems integrators. We spotlight large firms, but that doesn't mean the dozens of other systems integrators not evaluated are inappropriate for your organization.

Overall, Hewlett-Packard emerged as the most highly regarded, based upon the composite score in 10 different metrics by its 50 customer evaluators. But Compaq/Digital scored highest at companies with more than $1 billion in revenue. PricewaterhouseCoopers scored highest at companies with less than $100 million in revenue. HP won in the middle tier--companies with $100 million to $1 billion in revenue.

EDS and Andersen Consulting, two of the leading systems integrators by revenue and client count, scored below par. Are their customers sending them a message? Let us know at the address below.

Rusty Weston
Managing Editor/Research
rweston@cmp.com

This week in Behind The Numbers:

Sharp Differences

Talent Hunt

Different Industry, Different Problem

Will Spending Rise?

Sharp Differences

It's not surprising that small, midsize, and large companies have different needs and priorities in outsourcing and systems integration. Take enterprise resource planning: Smaller companies are doing less ERP integration and outsourcing--but that just reflects the fact that they undertake fewer ERP projects overall.

On the other hand, the strong interest in network integration among companies with less than $100 million in revenue suggests considerable catch-up work is under way. It's not unusual for larger companies to adopt the newest technology first--sometimes years before it spreads to small or midsize organizations.

Talent Hunt

It's hard for IT managers in organizations of any size to pinpoint the single most important reason they do anything. Their bosses are pestering them for action. Their jobs are at stake. They need to improve infrastructure before they can launch a project. They need to start a project in 1998 or risk losing funding for it in next year's budget. When it comes to calling in an IT integrator or outsourcing specialist, however, there's one very clear motivation for large organizations. It's the perpetual shortage of and growing need for experienced IT workers.

Different Industry, Different Problem

Research for our story "Analyzing the Integrators" involved a wide array of industries, but some differences show up between services and manufacturing customers. Overall, a similar proportion of IT managers in both groups identify the same issues in managing relationships with integrators and outsourcers. Collecting penalties was not widely cited as a management problem by either set. But a higher percentage of IT managers in the services sector complain of contractual problems, such as negotiating contract changes and improving service levels. Seeking flexibility in outsourcing relationships is also a bigger problem in the services industry.

Will Spending Rise?

Nearly two-thirds of IT managers in our study work at companies with more than $1 billion in revenue. Hiring integrators and outsourcers seems near pervasive in top-tier companies. Will smaller IT organizations follow suit? It looks that way. A larger proportion of under-$100 million organizations will raise their 1999 IT services budgets: 41% compared with 32% of the $1 billion-plus companies and 20% of midtier firms. Only 14% of small firms will lower spending compared with 37% of midtier organizations and 34% of the largest.