Upheavals in the traditional consulting market combined with strong services initiatives from technology firms and growing offshore options have created a wide-open marketplace for IT professional services and solutions. As buyers open their wallets for increased technology investments the new global competition puts a premium on strong brands. To build successful brands, providers of IT professional services and solutions need a detailed understanding of buyer priorities, perceptions, and purchase criteria.

Competing for Position in Professional Services and Solutions provides a detailed analysis of how business buyers of IT professional services and solutions assess leading providers and the market as a whole. The report focuses on IT consulting, planning, systems integration, outsourcing, IT solutions, and other technology-related professional services.

Based on interviews with 400 U.S.-based IT and business executives in eight major industries, the report is designed to help professional services providers plan marketing initiatives, shape market perceptions, and track the effectiveness of marketing programs on an ongoing basis.

Key findings in the report include:

• Drivers of change to technology infrastructure investments
• Perceptions of offshore outsourcing
• Unaided and aided awareness of IT professional services providers
• Familiarity with, favorability toward, and preference for doing business with leading professional services providers
• Comparison of the positioning of leading firms
• Importance of attributes in the selection of professional services firms
• Comparison of the relative strength of brand attributes of professional services firms, including study sponsors and sponsor-specified peers
• Professional services buyers’ goals and priorities
• Sources of information about providers of professional services and solutions

The report includes analysis by industry segment, company size, respondent title, respondent job function (IT vs. business executives), and role in the purchase decision (authorize vs. provide input).

Companies covered in detail in the study include:
Accenture, ACS, Answerthink, BearingPoint, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (now Capgemini), Cisco Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, Dell, EDS, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Consulting, IBM Global Services, Infosys, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Unisys, Wipro.

A number of other firms are also included in ratings and discussions of brand awareness.

Study Methodology
From January through March 2004, ITSMA conducted telephone interviews with 400 business and IT executives involved in the purchase of IT professional services and solutions to assess the brand awareness and market positioning of the major industry service firms. The study respondents all held director, vice president or C-level positions and represented organizations in eight major industries with annual revenue or operation budgets ranging from $200 million to over $20 billion.

Respondent Demographics
Respondent Titles			Company size			Industry
President/CXO	25%		$200-499 million	35%		Manufacturing	15%
Vice President	25%		$500-999 million	21%		Financial Services	15%
Directors	50%		$1-4.9 billion	31%		Retail	14%
			$5 billion or more	13%		Government/public sector	14%
						Energy/utilities	13%
						Transportation	12%
						Life sciences/biotech	9%
						Communications	8%

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