An ITSM study undertaken in April and May 2011 by Forrester and the itSMF USA chapter focused not only on ITIL but also covered management software vendors. Below are some of the findings published by Glenn O'Donnell the author.
Some of the findings came as no surprise (e.g., smaller vendors are more innovative than larger ones), but software vendors need to be aware of some realities:
- Software as a Service (SaaS) - saas is viewed very favorably as a service desk software delivery option. 96% were satisfied or very satisfied with SaaS whereas the numbers for traditional software models and in-house developed tools all hovered around 70%.
- Vendor Loyalty - Despite some dissatisfaction with service desk, buyers are unlikely to switch vendors. 57% said they would not switch and 21% said they would. 22% did not know.
- Boutique Vendors - The anchor-boutique 'shopping mall' model for management tools seems popular. Major vendors are well entrenched (see above bullet) but 37% will fill gaps in their portfolios with smaller boutique vendors.
- The Big Four (BMC Software, CA Technologies, HP Software and IBM Software) management software vendors have some potent new competition. When asked to rank several vendors on their ability to solve their broader management and automation challenges, the Big Four ranked a bit better than expected. On a scale of 0 (worst) to 4 (best), they averaged 2.23 (HP was tops at 2.40). This is a vote of some confidence, but it's not stellar. The group of Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, Oracle and VMware averaged 2.51. The best was VMware with an impressive 2.91 and all beat the Big Four average. It's clear that these "Improved Titans" will play a big role in your future ITSM efforts.
The study was primarily USA focused but the initial findings make interesting reading. Glenn O'Donnell is currently finalizing the report. Forrester and itSMF shall be making the full report available to its members once complete.
The exercise is hoping to be repeated again in 2012 but involve itSMF members from around the globe. Once again it should make interesting reading.