TALKING
business
‘‘
“
IT SUPPLIERS
HAVE BEEN
SPOILED OVER
THE YEARS AND
COMPANIES
THAT HAVE HAD
BEST-IN-CLASS
PRODUCTS HAVE
BEEN ABLE
TO CALL THE
SHOTS, OFTEN
LEADING TO
DYSFUNCTIONAL
BUYER AND
SELLER
RELATIONSHIPS.
in demand has many significant challenges
in its own right. But for many others, the
result of COVID-19 will be closed businesses
and a battle for survival. For most, the
return to normality will be measured in
years rather than months.
Any supplier needs to understand the
individual challenges facing its customers
and today they face the toughest over.
IT suppliers have been spoiled over the
years and companies that have had bestin-class
products have been able to call the
shots, often leading to dysfunctional buyer
and seller relationships. Now, we need to
band together with customers and build
stronger links.
Communications
More than ever we need to listen as well as
talk. A frequent complaint is that IT firms
only want to sell and not to understand the
specific needs of customers, their operations,
their sector or their local culture. This is the
time to invest in getting closer to customers.
Pricing
The crashing revenues that many companies
are seeing mean that the industry needs to
move to more creative pricing plans.
The old enterprise software model of
money upfront followed by an annual tax
is no longer fit for purpose. Subscriptionstyle
tariffs mean customers only pay for
what they use and means they can try new
services and approaches at very low cost.
Discounted and free services should also be
applied where appropriate.
Support
Service level agreements (SLAs) are a
necessary model to provide value, but they
are often too rigorous. Companies need
to be able to flex their terms in times such
as these and go the extra mile to ensure
customers have what they need, whether
that’s by extending support hours or
extending terms.
Cloud
The industry needs to press home the
message that cloud platforms can be highly
effective near-term and long-term responses
to standing up services. The firms least able
to manoeuvre today are those that have lots
of on-premises legacy equipment. Today,
we’re finding out the real advantages of
having capacity on demand, in not being
locked into suppliers or platforms, in being
able to dial resources down as well as up,
of trying new things fast – and even seeing
them fail without high penalties.
All of the above are ways to start thinking
about how we can help but our theme must
be flexibility. That word is part of the lexicon
of the industry: you hear it everywhere,
together with ‘agility’ and ‘elasticity’.
Attend any technology conference and you
will be calling ‘house!’ on your buzzword bingo
scorecard before the end of the opening
keynote. But if IT vendors can lose their bad
habits and show that willingness to change
and flex in favour of customers, they will be
in the best position to succeed when our
economies bounce back. By being authentic,
empathetic, human and gentle, we all win. •
38 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com