CIOs and CTOs struggle with multiple vendor model

Rimini Street has published 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. The research was conducted among a sample of more than 600 U.S. respondents, consisting of CIOs and CTOs in companies with over $250m in revenue. 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 results show that organizations are juggling an increased number of vendors, products, and services in the enterprise applications portfolio, putting stress on today’s support models and straining the IT budget. Nearly three quarters of respondents say these models are inadequate in supporting their IT and business needs.

“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.”

CIOs and CTOs Say Multi-Vendor Support and Services Model Lacks Agility and Accountability

Key findings 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 process 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. 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. In addition, the vendor support teams frequently offer limited expertise, leading enterprises to consult independent experts or escalate to their own experienced engineers. This costs organizations critical time and resources.

Vendor Consolidation is Just the First Step in Addressing Complexity

The report specifically details how relying on support and services from multiple vendors makes operations even more complex and expensive for CIOs and CTOs. 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%)

Offering a single point of support and service to today’s technology leaders is just the first step in addressing the challenge of the multiple vendor-based support and services model. Providers must also ensure they can demonstrate the added value that consolidation brings, such as the ability to give objective, agnostic, and personalized roadmap guidance. Ultimately, IT leaders are looking to their providers for agility, flexibility, and for a strategic partner to help plan their digital transformation roadmap and see it through to success.