IT services providers don't know what IT departments want - report

Over two-thirds of UK IT service providers are keen for their customer relationships to move towards greater strategic consultancy but only nine per cent of IT departments felt the same

There is significant misalignment between what services IT departments want to buy and the services that IT service providers try hardest to sell, a survey from IT service management firm LogicNow has found.

LogicNow's annual Global IT Service Providers Harmony report found a level of discord between what customers need and expect and what IT service providers are delivering.

In the UK, IT departments look to IT service providers to tackle an immediate, business-critical need, but IT service providers aim to offer a wider, more consultative service and prioritise this instead of addressing the immediate requirement.

Another example of the disconnect between IT service providers and customers is their ability to provide CIO-level consultancy. This was ranked last by IT departments when they were asked what was the most important deciding factors in choosing potential IT service providers - yet IT service providers ranked it as the fourth most important (out of eight main factors) when asked which attributes they emphasise most strongly in their promotional material and sales pitches.

There were also differences in the way IT service providers and end users believe their relationships should evolve. Over two-thirds (67 per cent) of UK IT service providers (64 per cent globally) were keen for their customer relationships to move towards greater strategic consultancy - but only nine per cent of IT departments (13 per cent globally) felt the same. A further 12 per cent wanted no change at all, while the remaining 12 per cent wanted more focus on tactical, technical IT support instead.

"Pushing strategic consultancy too early in the relationship gives an impression of under-valuing the immediate concern weighing heaviest on the customer's mind," said Dr Alistair Forbes, general manager at LogicNow.

"IT departments engage with service providers because they have a particular problem that needs solving. This must be addressed first to earn the opportunity of a strategic engagement later on," he added.

When asked how managed security offerings should be improved, IT departments ranked email security, improved web protection and better anti-virus as the highest three attributes, but IT service providers prioritise security consultancy, and taking a more proactive approach to patching and system updates - which ranked as sixth and seventh (out of eight) respectively for IT departments.

This trend was also apparent in pricing structures. The vast majority of UK IT departments (84 per cent) want to pay for managed security services with a single invoice on either a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, but nearly half (47 per cent) of IT service providers are invoicing for every technology individually or on an ad hoc basis - and 76 per cent have no plans to change these practices in the next 12 months.

"The issue is the risk of getting the relationship off on the wrong foot and ultimately the amount of potential profit being left ‘on the table' by the mismatch between the priorities of the service providers and IT departments," LogicNow's Forbes said.

"A closer match between the needs expressed by their clients and the way in which they position their services will lead to a stronger and ultimately longer lasting and more profitable business for them," he added.