Business Value Metrics Now Key To Winning Deals
IT executives are desperate to devise precise strategies to demonstrate business value, as evidenced by the attendance of several thousand IT executives jam-packed into a conference room at the opening Business Value IT track, hosted by Gartner.
"We have gone through a huge paradigm shift," said Grady Crunk, executive vice president of Central Data, a Titusville, Fla.-based solution provider. "If you can't show an immediate return on investment, IT organizations are not going to buy it. You must be able to bring to the table a companywide solution that has solid business value and return on investment [ROI."
Indeed, he said, "You have to bring something completely different to the table,something that clearly differentiates you. A light switch went off last year and changed everything so dramatically in what seemed like a short period of time."
Crunk is battling the ROI war with a new IP video security solution that is winning converts among IT buyers. In some cases, Crunk said, funding for the IP video solution is coming from security budgets rather than from IT budgets.
"You have to sell a solution, not a product," said Larry Souza, president of Maximum Micro, a South Yarmouth, Mass.-based solution provider. "People are looking for ROI. ... They are looking to get as much value as they can and do as many things as they can to get a return on investment."
The smaller businesses that Maximum Micro serves have always demanded strong ROI, but today larger corporate clients are looking at IT spending in a different light, he said.
"We live in a vastly different world than 12 months ago. People are looking at everything they do, and stockholders are looking at everything companies do, and that is what is driving purchases. Executives are looking for ammunition so when they are questioned on a purchase they can fire back with why it was a good purchase. Before, the questions weren't being asked," Souza said.
IT executives said solution providers need to have a deep knowledge of business processes and how they can be improved with specialized solutions.
"IT is no longer a service provider [within a company; they are a business partner and must be able to understand and partner with their business on key strategies," said one IT executive who attended the session and did not want to be identified. "Solution providers need to be selling solutions, not technology. I'm not out to buy CRM. Solution providers need to be able to look at the whole business, the processes and technology with it."