Customers not satisfied

IT vendors are not committed to the end customer, a major survey compiled for Hewlett-Packard has revealed.

The 60 directors and senior executives from major enterprise accounts questioned complained that IT vendors can't always supply the necessary global support, don't understand their businesses and sell them products rather than solutions.

As for the channel, the UK customer, specifically, does not believe that it is an effective IT vendor substitute, the study claims. UK customers also want the channel to get closer to the source of innovation and provide more proactive solution selling.

The HP survey, which was conducted across the UK, France, Spain and Finland, shows that customers across all four markets complain primarily of a lack of understanding of their business by vendors and resellers, and would like to see a more intimate relationship between the two parties in order to bridge that gap.

UK corporate resellers scored the lowest rating of any of the four countries.

Hewlett-Packard UK partner sales manager, Andy Isherwood, thinks this is due to the unusual demands of the UK market.

"The UK market has a high level of sophistication and demands a great deal from its channel. This demand is productive because it creates more opportunities for the channel to take the initiative, but it does mean the customer expects a lot."

The survey concluded that all IT vendors without exception are perceived as needing to manage their channels better. An increasingly fragmented supply chain and lack of direct communication with customers were singled out as key focus areas to deliver the quality relationships required.

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