IT users should use this year to negotiate smart, flexible
contracts and licensing with suppliers, according to analyst firm
Gartner.Peter
Sondergaard, head of European Research at Garter, said that 2003 is
the last year users would be in a position to squeeze the supplier.
“The smart user should look to create flexible contracts and
licensing,” he told the Gartner Symposium in Florence.
Sondergaard advised users to start a dialogue with their suppliers
now. While users are able to command the best deal from suppliers
today, Sondergaard predicted that consolidation in the IT industry
caused by the economic downturn will weaken users' bargaining
position in 2004.
“Be
prepared for a price increase or a forced upgrade,” Sondergaard
warned users. He pointed to consolidation in the data centre market
as one area that could have an impact on users.
Further
hardware consolidation among suppliers, in areas such as PC
manufacturing, network equipment and storage could also affect
users.
He
predicted further acquisitions in IT services, as the industry
assesses the impact of the IBM/PwC merger. But the biggest exposure
users faced, he warned, was in software. “We will see many
large-scale acquisitions in the software market.”
Sondergaard highlighted sectors such as with mainframes, where
there is no real competitor to IBM. Users faced real problems
negotiating a contract with a supplier, when no competitor existed,
he said.
One area
where Sondergaard saw real opportunities for was in planning their
PC renewal cycle.
PC
technology is poised to improve dramatically in the next 18 months,
with innovations in management tools and wireless capability, said
Sondergaard. This means users would be better off waiting to
upgrade.
“The next
wave of PC is so much better that the average installed base,”
Sondergaard added.