IT leaders seek to consolidate support and services from a single vendor to achieve greater agility, control vulnerabilities and improve cost efficiency
Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of enterprise software products and services, a leader in independent support for Oracle and SAP software products, and a Salesforce and AWS partner, announced the results of the Censuswide Buyers Sentiment Survey, “IT leaders are considering a new support and services model”, which analyzes the challenges related to ERP and database support, supplier relationship management and the need for a more assertive model of IT support and services. The survey was carried out with a sample of more than 600 respondents in the USA, made up of CIOs and CTOs from companies with revenues above US$ 250 million. It is the second part of the Censuswide report series, which previously published the “Organizations want more control over their IT roadmap”.
The survey results show that organizations are balancing an increasing number of vendors, products and services in the enterprise application portfolio, putting pressure on current models and straining the IT budget. About three-quarters of respondents say these models are inadequate to support IT and business needs.
“Over the past decade, companies have implemented an increasing number of enterprise software systems and technologies to manage their businesses. This has left them dependent on a tangled network of mission-critical suppliers and service providers,” said David Rowe, EVP, global transformation manager and chief product officer. “The data illustrates that this model is simply not working for the enterprise customer. Without the right effort between providers, more responsibility is placed on the IT leader to coordinate and manage the various systems and providers. Today, there is 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 meets the company's objectives.”
CIOs and CTOs say multi-vendor services and support model lacks agility and accountability
Key findings include:
- When asked to evaluate the support and services they receive for their ERP systems, databases, and related technologies, CIOs and CTOs 72% say the model provided by the software vendor is inadequate, citing a lack of accountability (62%) and lack of experience (46%) as main challenges;
- With the challenges of managing multiple support and service providers, respondents cited each vendor's different processes (36%), the high cost of managing multiple contracts (35%), and the excessive effort of selecting vendors (35%) as the main pain points;
- 61% of respondents want to consolidate support and managed services into a single provider;
Data shows that technology leaders are facing critical challenges with their IT support and services. Lack of accountability means that companies can suffer recurring product issues as there is often no root cause resolution, forcing them to explain the same problem to their various providers over and over again. Additionally, manufacturers' support teams often offer limited expertise, leading organizations to consult independent experts or turn to their own engineers. This costs organizations critical time and resources.
What is the next step for service consolidation?
The report details how relying on support and services from multiple vendors makes things even more complex and expensive for CIOs and CTOs. In these models, respondents state that different providers blame each other for problems (34%), service transfers are lost between suppliers (29%) and project delivery times are longer (27%).
These problems extend beyond costs and operational complexity, also hampering cybersecurity efforts. The multi-vendor support and services model can have a multiplier effect on existing vulnerabilities. The data reveals five main security challenges:
- Monitor the volume of vulnerabilities quarterly (31%);
- Balance operational resources between “keeping the lights on” and strategic priorities (30%);
- Find a way to stay ahead of the growing volume of threats (30%);
- Avoid business interruptions through security improvements (30%);
- Software update to be eligible for security patches (29%);
Providing a single point of support and service to today's technology leaders is not enough to inspire confidence. Vendors must ensure they can demonstrate the additional value that consolidation brings, such as the ability to provide objective, agnostic, and customized guidance. Ultimately, IT leaders look to their vendors for agility, flexibility and a strategic partner to help plan their digital transformation roadmap and guide it to success.
