Background
To properly support our members and prioritise the various issues, the CIO Committee Vendor Relations conducted a survey among the members. This survey collected the experience and reputation of vendors, which were categorised into 18 categories of purchased services and products. We also asked whether the functionality in question is purchased from the Cloud, or on premise. The questioning explicitly did not concern the technical/practical performance of the services and products, but rather the behaviour, interaction and relationship between customer and suppliers. In this way, we can jointly gain a better picture of the current playing field and improve relationships where necessary.

Insights
In this blog, we share some of the key insights found in the survey results. Overall, the picture is one of satisfied customers with some incidental negative outliers. This observation is as expected, but with a close look, additional relevant developments and insights can be discovered.

• We see a growing presence of Cloud-based products and services strongly reflected in the responses. Although expected, the level of growth compared to previous surveys in 2020 is nevertheless impressive. Moreover, only two vendors are leading the way among our members. It raises questions about the control business users have and how the relationship is between the need for Cloud from users on the one hand and the pressure suppliers are putting on this movement on the other.
• The survey included categories of different digital products and services. From Access and Identity to Reporting, there are meanwhile many specific and diverse tasks people expect to perform using digital solutions. A specific influential supplier emerges in almost every section. This supplier is leading and appreciated, but the image that their services and products now cover almost the entire IT landscape was still missing. It raises questions about how we deal with a landscape that is (co-)defined A to Z by one company? What risks does a monoculture pose? And how can we prevent it?
• It is relevant to compare the recent results with a latest poll of our members from 2020. This demonstrates similar scores to four years ago and contains a similar picture of the behaviour of (major) suppliers in relation to customers. Over the past four years, little has changed in this sense. A common complaint, for example, is still that major vendors follow their own technical development strategy, without really taking the needs of customers into account. What is remarkable, however, is that certain vendors seem to behave differently today compared to 2020. For example, where a certain supplier still received an exceptionally high score in terms of customer satisfaction in 2020, this lead has now disappeared. This could also indicate that, possibly due to their growth, the supplier no longer finds it so necessary to show good behaviour in the meantime, as users cannot leave anyway.
• There is also another indication suggesting the relevance of the degree of lock-in for the supplier-customer relationship. Namely, traditional service providers are generally rated higher and their reputation among our members has improved. It is recognition for the attitude of service providers towards their customer, but at the same time it demonstrates the effects of a well-functioning and competitive market. A healthy market, with other players able to benefit from customer dissatisfaction with a competitor, makes for healthier customer-supplier relationships. A proposition that conversely applies to the software vendor market, where lock-in leads to undesirable consequences.

Conclusion and outlook
In short, although we do not see any pressing points or revolutionary developments among respondents, the survey helped to again obtain a sharper picture of how relationships are valued in a rapidly changing landscape. Respondents are generally satisfied, although the large parties seem to be clearly less likely to ‘listen’ to the customer, or feel the need to make an effort to maintain a good relationship. The question also remains whether respondents are satisfied despite or also because of the lock-in experienced or not.

Based on these new insights, we will provide content for substantive meetings and proactively approach suppliers. Moreover, the insights from the Benchmark provide additional valuable knowledge for our input towards Brussels and The Hague. In these ways, we can jointly promote the position of the Dutch business user of IT and work towards fair and healthy markets for digital services and products. Do you know of any relevant additions or questions for the above, or would you like to share your experiences about your relationship with suppliers? Please contact Ronald Verbeek.

For more information and/or questions about the Benchmark, please contact bureau@cio-platform.nl

Kind regards,

CIO Committee Vendor Relations 

Raimond Voermans (CIO, Marel)
Pieter Halenbeek (CIO, KVK)
Rene van Sandijk (CIO, Vanderlande)
Eric Overvoorde (CIO, Royal HaskoningDHV)
Ton Arrachart (CIO, Fugro)