Enterprise software support, products and services company Rimini Street today announced findings of the Censuswide Buyers Sentiment Survey, “IT Leaders are Considering a New Support and Services Model,” examining the challenges of ERP and database support, vendor relationship management, and the need for a better IT support and services model. It is the second in a two-part series of reports from Censuswide, following the recent “Organizations Want More Control Over Their IT Roadmap” report.
The survey polled more than 600 U.S. CIOs and CTOs in companies with over $250 million in revenue. Results showed that organizations are juggling an increased number of vendors, products, and services in the enterprise applications portfolio and that existing support models are not adequate and are straining the IT budget.
Multi-Vendor Support and Services Model Lacks Agility and Accountability
Key findings from the survey include:
- When asked to assess the support and services they receive for their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, databases, and related technology, 72% of CIOs and CTOs say the vendor-based model is inadequate, citing a lack of accountability (62%) and lack of expertise (46%) as top challenges
- With challenges of managing multiple support and service providers, respondents cited the different processes per vendor (36%), the high cost of several vendor contracts (35%), and too much effort selecting and managing vendors (35%) as the greatest pain points
- 61% of respondents want to consolidate support and managed services into a single provider
The data shows that technology leaders are experiencing critical challenges with their IT support and services, which opens up a clear opportunity for managed services providers (MSPs). A lack of accountability means that companies may suffer recurring product issues as there is often no root cause resolution, forcing them to explain the same problem to their individual vendors over and over again, the survey revealed. In addition, the vendor support teams frequently offer limited expertise, leading enterprises to consult independent experts or escalate to their own experienced engineers, according to the survey. This costs organizations critical time and resources.
“Over the past decade, enterprises have deployed a growing number of enterprise software systems and supporting technologies to run their business. This has left them dependent on a tangled web of software vendors and service providers to support and manage these mission-critical systems,” said David Rowe, EVP, Global Transformation and chief product officer. “The data illustrates that this system simply isn’t working for the enterprise customer. Without a concerted effort across the providers, it places greater responsibility on IT leaders to coordinate and manage the various systems and vendors. Today, there’s a better alternative: Consolidating support and services into a single strategic partner that prioritizes business success and works closely to help plan and execute a digital transformation roadmap that fits the company’s goals.”
Vendor Consolidation to Address Complexity
The report specifically details how relying on support and services from multiple vendors makes operations even more complex and expensive. In these multi-vendor models, respondents state that different vendors blame each other for problems (34%), service handoffs are lost between vendors (29%), and project lead times are longer (27%).
These problems extend beyond just cost and operational complexity, also harming cybersecurity efforts. The multi-vendor support and services model can have a multiplying effect on existing security issues. The data reveals these five top security challenges:
- Keeping up with the volume of vulnerabilities on a quarterly basis (31%)
- Balancing operational resources between “keeping the lights on” and strategic priorities (30%)
- Finding a way to stay ahead of an increasing volume of threats (30%)
- Avoiding business disruptions by security enhancements (30%)
- Upgrading software to be eligible for security patches (29%)
You can access the full, comprehensive report of the survey, “IT Leaders are Considering a New Support and Services Model,” here.
