More than nine-in-ten IT decision-makers (92%) believe ITSM implementers are failing to meet the needs of customers, according to new research from specialist ITSM consultancy Xcession.
The findings highlight widespread dissatisfaction with current service levels, with more than half of IT decision-makers (55%) having changed or stopped working with their chosen implementer because of failure to deliver what they needed. Almost half (49%) suspect an implementer has sold them, or is trying to sell them, more software licences than they require.
The research explored attitudes to the ITSM implementer market among 250 CTOs, CIOs and senior IT decision-makers from public and private sectors in the UK and Ireland.
Lack of transparency is a major concern, with 46% of respondents believing the market is opaque and nearly two-in-ten (19%) finding it very difficult to know who to trust. 40% say ITSM implementers have left them with under-utilised software and 39% with excessive licences they have to pay for.
“These findings show the inadequacy of the current ITSM implementer market where suspicion, poor service and excessive costs are rife,” said Neil Peerman, Chief Operations Officer, Xcession. “Too many implementers are focused on selling licences and increasing fees, rather than serving the exact needs of customers. The result is that many organisations end up with excessive costs and inappropriate software.”
“While the market needs greater transparency about fees and commercial relationships, opting for a vendor-independent implementer is the only certain way for customers to avoid excessively costly, under-performing implementations.”
The research found that poor service from ITSM implementers is very common, with 89% of decision-makers saying implementers usually get something wrong.
Asked where implementers most often fail to meet expectations, more than four-in-ten respondents (41%) cite excessive costs, while 28% point to over-running of agreed timescales. A fifth (20%) say advice and levels of expertise are poor. And it is not just implementation projects that are a problem – more than a third of respondents (37%) say ITSM managed services are too costly because of poor performance by implementation partners.
