|
The
United Kingdom (U.K.) is the largest, and most mature
IT services market in Europe. This level of maturity
is driving companies toward investments that are designed
to deliver returns on existing investments and to
leverage existing infrastructure. And, while midsize
businesses in the U.K. are strong current users of
external services providers (ESPs), there is a continuing
caution in IT services spending overall.
A
recent Gartner survey of IT executives in the U.K.
reflects the buying preferences and requirements of
this segment. How do you compare in prioritizing and
selecting IT services and ESPs?
Spending
Patterns
Half the enterprises surveyed reported that they were
planning to keep expenditures with ESPs unchanged,
and a further 30 percent were planning to increase
spending year-over-year from 2002 levels. These numbers
are broadly in line with the rest of Europe and indicate
a prudent, rather than optimistic, view of the economy.
IT
Adoption Plans by Service and Application
More U.K. companies are currently engaging ESPs for
project-based services such as IT consulting and application
development than for multiyear outsourcing engagements.
Applications-related activities (development, management,
integration and the use of application service providers)
continue to grow, though cautiously.
Security
services are clearly the most heavily used solution
in the U.K. at present, and as a result will hold
only modest interest in the near future. Major findings
show that companies in the U.K. are more likely to
direct funding into e-commerce initiatives than into
any other services.
Selection
Criterion for IT Projects
Technical expertise is the most important selection
criterion in the U.K., closely followed by the need
for strong vertical industry sector experience. Survey
respondents were less concerned about whether the
service provider was a local player, or whether they
offered a broad range of services or multinational
capabilities. In fact, many companies are now assessing
the viability of utilizing offshore service providers.
IT
Services Decision-Making
IT managers remain the most influential people in
the IT selection decision for ESPs, followed by CIOs,
CFOs and CEOs in that order. Once decisions are made,
service-level agreements (SLAs) are the most popular
style of managing new contracts, and the risk and
reward of new projects, with fixed price contracts
being the engagement style preferred.
Discuss IT strategies and initiatives with
Gartner industry experts, IT product and service vendors
and your peers at Midsize
Enterprise Summit Europe. Click
here for details on attending as our guest.
Reference
Focus Report
IT Services Adoption in the United Kingdom in
2003
Publication Date: September 19, 2002
Authors: Ian Marriott and Gianluca Tramacere
|
