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Corporate IT Buying Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Study Reveals Shift in Market Dynamics

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The second quarter 1999 Corporate IT Buying Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Study, conducted by Technology Business Research, has tracked corporate end-user satisfaction with desktop, Intel-based server, and laptop/notebook systems vendors for 10 consecutive quarters. The study is based on 362 interviews with IT managers at large U.S. corporations, primarily in June and July 1999. The key issues that serve as brand differentiators this quarter include out-of-box quality, total cost of ownership, delivery time, replacement parts availability, and configuration/set-up.

Key Takeaways:

  • Dell continues to hold its top-level position across the three form factors, with a significant decline in server management features and a notable increase in on-site support satisfaction.
  • Compaq has made substantial gains in the ratings, particularly in notebook satisfaction, and is perceived as competitive in the market, despite a greater number of DOA problems.
  • IBM has recouped a significant portion of its losses in the Intel server satisfaction ratings, with fewer problem areas and competitive vulnerabilities in delivery time, out-of-box quality, and replacement parts availability.
  • Hewlett-Packard's ratings are consistent with previous quarters, with strengths in the Intel server arena, but perceived weaknesses in pricing, discount negotiation, and configuration issues.
  • Gateway has shown a substantial improvement in customer satisfaction ratings, with a notable increase in technical support response and a strong competitive area in replacement parts availability.
  • Toshiba has lost momentum, with scores dropping in delivery time, product availability, and ease of set-up, and is now perceived with overly complex product design, slow technical support response, and poor availability of replacement parts.

Statistics:

  • 362 interviews with IT managers at large U.S. corporations were conducted for the study.
  • The study represents an installed base of approximately 2.4 million systems and a purchase intent of over 550,000 systems.
  • Compaq has seen a notable increase in on-site support satisfaction, with scores rising to the same level as or above those of Dell.
  • Dell's customer satisfaction scores in the Intel server arena are consistent with the previous quarter, except for a significant decline in server management features.
  • Gateway's customer satisfaction ratings have shown a substantial improvement, with a notable increase in technical support response.

Sources:

  • Technology Business Research (www.tbri.com)
  • The Second Quarter 1999 Corporate IT Buying Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Study
  • Business Wire, August 9, 1999

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