Five Things CIOs Hate

Cold Calling
Not Doing Your Homework
Overlooking ROI
Pretending You're Something You're Not
Who Are You?

Some might wonder if it's even worthwhile to look at the Fortune 500 as a potential customer base: Are these global giants even investing in third-party IT contractors? According to our IT Spending and Strategy (ITSS) survey, the answer is yes. (Complete ITSS survey results will be unveiled in our April 29 issue.)

We set out to learn just what CIOs from Global 500, Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies were looking for in solution providers. To get answers, we turned to some of the most innovative companies in the business: Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse, Continental Airlines, DaimlerChrysler, FedEx, General Motors North America, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. What they had to say was enlightening and instructive.They offered insights on spending priorities and tips for securing their business.

Consider our ITSS survey targeted top-level executives who contract IT solutions to third-party providers. A vast majority,72 percent,expect to spend this year at least what they did in 2001. And a substantial 63 percent expect their IT spending will be greatest in either the second or third quarter of this year. That means there is money out there, waiting for eligible solution providers who can deliver on these demanding types of projects. What makes one VAR more attractive than another is technical and business expertise. That jives with what the CIOs told us, too.

For instance, before you send off an e-mail to, say, Michael Prince, vice president and CIO at Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse, he insists you study his company, what it has done with technology and what his competition is doing.

"The thing that gets people in the door is doing research on Burlington Coat Factory and having seen something in the press that relates to them calling us," Prince says. "Those people will at least get a listen."

Several months ago, one particular solution provider did his homework and will now acquire a project from Prince that's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In this instance, the solution provider, who had unsuccessfully approached Prince in the past while working at a different company, tried one more time. The solution provider's vice president of sales and vice president of consulting came ready to present their case to Prince.

"He came in with the right people,their heavy hitters,and they were prepared," Prince says. "They weren't talking in generalities, but in specifics. They had a competency with Cisco, Brocade and some of the storage vendors like StorageTek, Sun and Veritas."

Burlington was among the earliest adopters of Linux, and this solution provider already knew about Prince's passion for the open source operating system.

"We do a lot of stuff with Linux and they talked about how they could supply us with products and help us on the integration front," Prince says. "That differentiated them from the pack of people."

Today, this solution provider is likely to become called upon as a regular software, hardware and services provider for Burlington, Prince says.

But that VAR will likely have to compete with some new blood. One of the more unexpected things that's resulted from the current economy is the number of new entrants to the business. The past two years have been anything but kind to IT solution providers, and many have succumbed to financial pressures. Experts who follow the market have noticed a boom in new businesses lately. One reason: People who have been laid off from corporate IT departments have gone into the business of providing IT consulting services.

"With consumer confidence up, people think sales are going to rise, and, therefore, now might be the time to get into the business of selling computer products and services," says Alan Weinberger, founder, chairman and CEO of the ASCII Group, a national reseller buying group representing more than 2,000 IT consultants, VARs and solution providers nationwide. "I think this year will be a good year for us and these new entrants," he says.

When end-user companies consider outsourcing all, or part, of a project, the person inside the organization who most often interfaces with the solution provider is the CIO, according to 40 percent of respondents in our ITSS survey. So, who better to ask for tips on how VARs can make inroads into their companies than top company executives? Learn what it takes to pique their interest so you can present your ultimate solutions to their technological challenges. These CIOs also reveal the deadly sins to avoid when approaching them.

"We're probably guilty of all of them at one point in time," says Bill Murray, vice president in charge of e-business solutions for Analysts International of Sequoia.net (VARBusiness 500: Rank 388).

Even top-tier VARs can benefit from these CIOs' advice. Executives from VARBusiness 500 companies also share their thoughts on what these CIOs had to say.

1. Cold Calling
2. Not Doing Your Homework
3. Overlooking ROI
4. Pretending You're Something You're Not
5. Who Are You?