Lure of brands pressuring CIOs

IT chiefs need to balance staff preference for working with big brands with business requirements

IT managers are coming under increasing pressure from staff to base their choice of products on brand image rather than the quality of the technology or how well it fits within the enterprise infrastructure, according to industry experts.

Gian Fulgoni, IT director at publishing company DeAgostini, said that IT staff prefer to work with the latest technologies from the biggest brands, rather than try out smaller vendors. He added that in some instances IT managers should be prepared to give in to this pressure in the interests of staff motivation, morale and career development.

“Staff retention is always a challenge, and keeping pace with technology changes is one way to keep staff,” Fulgoni said.

But IT managers should only indulge their staff’s curiosity if it helps the business to achieve its goals. “This has to be aligned to business needs and [should not be driven by] technicians who want to enhance their CVs,” he said.

Fulgoni added that vendor hype and marketing can make it difficult to strike the right balance, and that staff education is vital to build understanding of procurement priorities. “Educating staff about the importance of the actual use of technology within the company and not just getting technology for technology’s sake [is important],” he argued.

Rick Firth, managing director of Parity Training, also advised firms against buying into technology just because of the pulling power of the provider’s brand. “IT buying decisions clearly should not be driven purely on ‘big brands are best’,” he said.

Firth added that smaller vendors have to struggle to overcome this innate desire to play safe. “In the 1970s and 1980s, IT directors used to believe, ‘When in doubt, stick with IBM’. But as we know, ‘safe’ doesn’t necessarily always mean ‘best’, and new, lesser-known br ands came along to provide better performance and innovation to drive businesses forward,” he said. “Likewise, today’s big, well-known brands are not always the best solutions, and businesses need to undertake due diligence on the appropriate technology solution, rather than choosing technology for motivation or training reasons.”

Martin Richmond-Coggan, European vice-president of business performance management specialist Applix, agreed that it is difficult for smaller firms to compete with the larger vendors, such as business intelligence heavyweight Cognos in the BI space.

“You have to push against this sort of thing and try to see what’s going to make you more marketable as a supplier,” Richmond-Coggan added.

Other experts said companies should look at both how well a system fits within the enterprise and the likelihood that the provider will be able to provide long-term support. David Francis, technical consultant at IT systems integrator Conchango, said that when making purchasing decisions, the long-term viability of the solutions provider should be a key consideration.

“Firms should ask if the provider has been in business for long; whether it is of a size that can support them; if it is financially stable and not going to disappear in the near future; and how many clients it already has,” Francis advised.