19/02-04   -   Pressmeddelande

IT Vendors Fine-Tune Vertical Strategies to Target Transport, Communications, and Utilities Sectors, Says IDC

According to a new IDC study exploring the IT vendor competitive landscape in the Western European transport, communications, and utilities (TCU) sector, IT providers are responding to the increasing competitive pressure and slowdown in demand by fine-tuning their vertical go-to-market strategies.

By offering hardware, software, and services to the TCU markets, IT vendors are experiencing increasing price pressure from competitors. They also face weaker demand from customers who continue to show caution in IT spending and prioritize IT investments according to provable ROI value.

"IT vendors are looking for new ways to entice customers with attractive solutions that meet their current business needs," said Claudia Lonardi, senior research analyst with IDC´s European Vertical Markets expertise center. "In order to better exploit the opportunities in the TCU market, IT vendors are refocusing their vertical strategy, if they have one, or, as in the case of Alcatel and Cisco, verticalizing their sales and marketing organizations and their approach to their client base."

IDC believes that the TCU sector will gradually show significant growth and IT vendors should optimize their vertically focused strategies now to exploit the opportunities that are going to develop in this key market in the short to medium term.

Effective vertical-focused go-to-market strategies should be based on the following key factors:
· solid IT competencies
· sound understanding of the major business issues that TCU companies have to deal with in the current economic environment
· strong partnerships
· well-trained sales forces (specialized in both SMBs and larger organizations) to target prospects in the TCU market

The study, Western Europe, Transport, Communications and Utilities, Top IT Vendors´ Competitive Assessment, 2003 (IDC #PT05K, December 2003), provides a competitive analysis of the major Western European IT providers targeting the TCU market. It offers an overview of the main IT players and their influence in the TCU sector, and covers the following vendors with hardware, software, and IT services offerings for the Western European TCU industries: Accenture, Alcatel, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Cisco, EDS, HP, IBM, LogicaCMG, SchlumbergerSema, Sun Microsystems, and T-Systems. Each vendor is profiled by overall business, TCU offerings, and go-to-market strategies.

To purchase this document, please contact your local IDC office, or visit www.idc.com.

About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world´s leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com
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For more information, contact:
Claudia Lonardi
+44 20 8987 7225
clonardi@idc.com