Enterprise Business Priorities Shape IT Acquisition Through 2012 and Beyond

Saugatuck’s ongoing research programs, including our latest SaaS/Cloud Business solutions survey, provide us and our research clients with an expanding window into what enterprise executives want and need to accomplish, and how that changes year-by-year.

What we’ve found is a set of tiered business goals/priorities that remains relatively constant in whole, but exhibits some interesting and compelling changes over time that in turn affect what enterprises spend on IT – and what IT they spend on. One of our latest Strategic Perspectives looks at these tiers and how/why they change, and more importantly, how to use this information to prioritize and qualify IT spending – or, if you’re an IT provider, how to develop and deliver value that matches your customers’ business priorities. Interesting points from this Strategic Perspective include the following:

“Increase Profit Margins” shot up from 7^th priority to 3^rd as the Great Recession hit and lingered in most markets, then recently slipped back down to 6^th as economic conditions generally improved worldwide.
“Manage Budgets” as a business goal tends to quickly ride up or down, depending on a variety of economic and competitive factors. When economic times are tight or uncertain, budget management gets top-tier priority; but most of the time, managing budgets is not a top-of-mind influencing factor for enterprise executives.

A follow-on Strategic Perspective will look at relative growth in the acquisition of SaaS business applications categories over the years, followed by a third Strategic Perspective that maps those SaaS acquisition trends to what we know of enterprise business goals. Given the relative maturity of SaaS/Cloud at this time in most user enterprises, it will be interesting (to say the least) to see how closely buying patterns map to business priorities, and therefore to enterprise IT value requirements.

Note: Ongoing Saugatuck subscription clients can access this 5-page premium research piece (1053STR) by clicking here, and inputting your ID and password. Non-clients can purchase and download this premium research piece by clicking here.

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Bruce Guptill

Most research firms can explain what happened; some can explain what is happening. Saugatuck Technology excels at understanding both in order to explain what else is likely to occur, and to guide its clients toward the actions that deliver them the greatest business value while enabling the safest business path.
To accomplish this, and to continually improve the value of Saugatuck’s work to clients in a Cloud-obscured marketplace, Saugatuck SVP and Head of Research Bruce Guptill pushes his team to continually re-examine and re-invent the company’s research programs to focus more on the costs, benefits, effects, and value of an ever-changing mix of technologies and providers in different markets.
Guptill’s own technology and business background laid a solid foundation for such a flexible, yet stable, approach to IT research value for clients. His technology research work includes mobility, collaborative IT, telecom, data networking, web commerce, and electronic marketplaces; his research work for enterprise IT and business clients includes return on IT investment, total cost of IT ownership, and business planning for IT. His research and guidance on vendor channel management, market identification and development, and buyer behavior analysis has enabled hundreds of established and startup IT providers to find, enter, and profit from new and traditional markets, while helping to guide user enterprise leaders toward optimal IT procurement and vendor management.
Guptill’s research background includes several years as a VP and research director with Gartner, senior positions with TeleChoice and Robert Frances Group, and editorial work within the IDG companies, including four years as a writer and editor with NetworkWorld. His marketing business focus was honed as VP of marketing for firms ranging from custom development providers to non-IT firms in aviation and other industries. His sales and channel experience started by traveling with a sample bag, then working for IT VARs, then advising telecom and wireless carriers on partner choices, to developing partner programs for traditional and Cloud-based software development firms and ISVs.
Guptill holds an MBA in marketing and finance, and a BA in the psychology and business of mass media communication. He is licensed to fly airplanes, drive boats, and sell houses; he is also a certified baseball coach, serves on the boards of regional civic groups, and is a serial home renovator. Married with three children, Guptill resides on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts, and is a lifelong fan of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and the University of Connecticut Huskies.

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