The IT Director’s ERP wish list revealed in new IFS study
An international study, carried out by TNS Sifo on behalf of IFS, reveals what is important for IT Directors when launching a new business software project. IT Directors in the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Benelux countries were asked about the most important aspects when evaluating business software providers.
The study examined the attitude of 216 decision makers in the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Benelux countries with respect to return on investment, procurement strategy and vendor relations when purchasing business solutions.
The five most important factors that IT directors look for when launching an ERP project are:
- Flexible and scalable systems
- Innovative and proactive software vendor
- Good understanding of how the company works
- Committed contact persons
- User-centric systems
From the IT Director’s perspective, the most important factor when considering a new business system provider is its ability to offer flexible and scalable systems that can be adapted to the company’s changing needs. In addition, the ideal software vendor is innovative and proactive when it comes to the customer’s needs and have a good understanding of how the customer’s company works. These requirements are in no way unique for IT Directors, all decision makers have the same top-two priorities: an agile system and a proactive and innovative supplier.
In addition, the study shows that IT Directors are also concerned with softer values. They rate commited contact persons on the vendor’s side as slightly more important than user-centric systems.
“The study reveals a great number of factors that are important for the IT Director when planning the next business software project.” Alexander Sovré, Director at TNS Sifo specialized in IT and telecom-related research, said. “Notably, user-centric systems finish in the top five, which indicates an interest among IT Directors to provide intuitive and user-friendly solutions to the end users. Together with Nice to do business with, which ranked as number six on the wish list, this shows that business software projects do not only involve functionality and technology, but also human factors that add value throughout the lifecycle of the system.”
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Contact Information
Anne Vandbakk
Telefon: 46 8 58 78 45 00
Corporate Communications Director
anne.vandbakk@ifsworld.com
Frédéric Guigues
Telefon: 46 8 58 78 45 00
Investor Relations
frederic.guigues@ifsworld.com
About TNS Sifo
TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world’s consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.
TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups.
Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.
About IFS
IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications™, a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. IFS focuses on industries where any of four core processes are strategic: Service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects. The company has 2,000 customers and is present in approximately 60 countries with 2,800 employees in total. Net revenue in 2011 was SKr 2.6 billion.
More information on IFS is available at www.IFSWORLD.com
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Investor Relations frederic.guigues@ifsworld.com
IFS, Box 1545, SE-581 15 Linköping, Sweden – Phone: +46 13 460 40 00 – Fax: +46 13 460 40 01
Industrial and Financial Systems, IFS AB (publ) is a limited liability company registered in Linköping, Sweden.
Corporate identity number: 556122-0996
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