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In
2003, Gartner conducted telephone-based and Web-based
surveys with CIOs and IT Managers that included a
focus on the PC requirements, priorities and preferences
of North American midsize businesses (MSBs). The key
findings and vendor recommendations that follow are
drawn from this study.
Spending
on IT hardware continues to be a large line item in
midsize business IT budgets, with a split of 60 percent
on operating expenses and 40 percent on capital assets.
In 2004, MSBs will increase their total number of
PC devices by approximately 6 percent, with the main
drivers behind planned PC purchases including aggressive
pricing and the migration to laptops. More than half
of MSBs report that they use the same vendor for both
desktop and laptop PCs, with most PC purchases influenced
by replacement needs and changing user profiles (i.e.
the need for increased mobility).
Table
1
Average Number of PCs Being Managed
by Company Size
| |
100-499
Employees |
500-999
Employees |
Desktop
PCs |
216 |
709 |
Laptops
|
25 |
84 |
|
| Source:
Gartner, Inc., August 2003 |
Planned
Laptop Adoption
Falling prices (i.e. sub-$1,000 mobile PCs), changes
in user behaviors and requirements (desktop-to-mobile
transition, wireless LANs and wireless hot spots)
and end of lifecycles have broadened the appeal of
laptops and made them much more accessible to businesses
of all sizes.
Currently,
the ratio of laptops to desktops is approximately
10 percent for MSBs, which is comparatively low within
the broader market. We expect this ratio to increase
to 30 percent of the PCs owned during the next two
years. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the MSBs in the
survey cited plans to replace existing desktop PCs
with laptops by year-end 2004.
Further,
about half of the participating MSBs stated that they
normally purchase other hardware such as printers,
networking products and servers when purchasing PCs.
PC
Selection Criteria
When asked to rate the most important PC selection
criteria, performance was ranked most important, followed
by warranty, and then service and support capability.
MSBs are likely giving more attention to performance
as a form of investment protection to support their
preference to extend PC life cycles to beyond three
years. The importance of price has dropped from third
in the preceding year’s survey to fifth, while
brand reputation moved up a notch.
PC
vendors should help MSBs determine the different classes
of users they have in their enterprise, and then help
them target PC acquisitions on the products and configurations
that include only the functionality required by their
end users to perform their jobs. This will be a step
in the right direction to developing a good relationship
with the client. With product offerings from PC vendors
being nearly identical at the component level, real
product differentiation will occur at the level of
service, support, warranty and management tools. By
2005, we predict that 65 percent of enterprise PCs
shipped will be differentiated based on manageability
and simplicity.
Table
2
PC Selection Criteria by Company Size
| |
100-499
Employees |
500-999
Employees |
Lowest
Price |
3.5 |
3.5 |
Pre-installed
Software |
2.8 |
2.8 |
Brand
Reputation |
3.9 |
3.9 |
System
Performance |
4.6 |
4.4 |
Proximity
of Reseller |
2.6 |
2.1 |
Service
and Support |
4.3 |
4.0 |
Warranty |
4.3 |
4.2 |
Custom
Configuration |
2.8 |
2.9 |
| Ranking
is based on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 = most
important |
|
| Source:
Gartner, Inc., August 2003 |
Based
on the survey results, Gartner offers vendors
the following recommendations:
|
• |
Vendors
should understand that the lowest total cost,
not the lowest purchase price is the principal
goal for MSB procurement – provide them
with a manageable PC infrastructure. |
• |
Vendors should focus on upselling services, such
as help desk, asset management, and network monitoring
to drive the greatest business value for MSBs
and to drive up contract value for themselves.
You can also educate buyers and assist them with
the equipment disposal process as part of the
PC acquisition process. |
• |
Quality, reliability, availability and vendor
viability are the price of entry to the enterprise
PC market. Current vendor relationships, service
and support, and manageability will be the key
differentiators. |
• |
Laptop adoption will continue to increase, and
the lowest-priced mobile PC may not be the winner
here. An affordable PC mobile package offering
that includes service and solutions may be the
answer. |
• |
Vendors should consider selling warranties to
MSBs that have extended their PC life cycles beyond
the warranty period. Broader support and warranties
will be required for laptops, but PC vendors that
can roll out the required services and support
along with their offerings will have a better
chance at penetrating this mobile market. |
• |
Many MSBs will remain dependent on the channel
to fulfill needs such as installation, migration
and deployments if not offered from large OEMs.
Vendors must develop an efficient distribution
network of service providers for local account
coverage. |
Learn
more about the spending plans and patterns of midmarket
IT decision-makers firsthand at Midsize
Enterprise Summit. For details on presentation
opportunities, click
here or call toll-free 877-619-7956, x493.
Reference
User Wants and Needs
North American SMB PC Preferences and Investment
Plans, 2003
Publication Date: September 4, 2003
Authors: J. Browning and M. Margevicius, Gartner,
Inc.
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