Peter Hubert, Head of Insights, APAC navigated the dynamic and changing IT sales landscape and taught how to attract and engage today's tech decision makers with the right content at the right time.

1. 1
Taking a Deeper Look at Today’s
Empowered Tech Buying Process
Beneath
the Surface
​Peter Hubert
​Head of Insights, APAC

2. ​Not so very long ago, when it came to
technology purchases, IT was at the
helm, but seemingly everything about
the tech market is changing rapidly,
particularly the target audience.
​How are you to keep up?
2

3. 3
2.3+ million
APAC LinkedIn members who influence IT
decisions across departments and seniorities

4. 4
​We surveyed 3,800+
technology decision-makers globally
So, what’s beneath the technology
purchasing surface?

5. 5
Hardware for End Users Hardware for Data Centers Software for Data CentersSoftware for End Users
We looked at 4 key technology subverticals.
 The decision making process journey
 The key influencers on the process
 The areas of interest and motivation
 The content they want, when and where
they’re looking for it…
To bring a depth of
understanding to…

6. 6
Complication #1:
The buying process
is competitive and long.
Complication #2:
Technology buying touches all
aspects of business.
Complication #3:
The buying group each have
their own agenda.
What we learned: It’s complicated.

7. Complication #1: The buying process is long, complex and competitive.

8. 8
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Needs Specs/Funding Vendor Choice Implementation Management Renewal
Hardware for End Users
Software for End Users
Hardware for Data Centers
Software for Data Centers
Engaged Directly with Vendors – Last 3 Months
(% among buyers recently participating in each stage)
Engagement is constant throughout the long journey…
​Bases: Technology decision participants (last 3 months) in 11+ person companies across 11 major markets in each market who recently participated in each stage
​Hardware for End Users n=140-173, Software for End Users n=163-199, Data Center Hardware n=142-162, Data Center Software n=132-167
12 months+

9. 27%25%
9
It’s more competitive than ever,
but opportunities do exist.
Most Competitive Most Open
Hardware for End Users Software for Data Centers Hardware for Data Centers Software for End Users
Technology buying ranges from extremely to very competitive
(% who shortlisted a “new” vendor)
21% 42%

10. Complication #2: Technology buying touches all aspects of business.

11. 45%
52%
59%
51%
62%
50%
Needs Specs/Funding Vendor Choice Implementation Management Renewal
1111
4+ functions
(% among buyers participating in each stage)
4+ functional groups can be involved at each stage.

12. IT, Engineering and Operations are the visible players…
Engineering
Operations
IT
Business Development
Purchasing
Support
Sales
Finance
Project Management
12

13. 13
Hardware for End Users Hardware for Data Centers Software for Data CentersSoftware for End Users
…but the full committee is a complex group
​* Each function’s’ importance was ranked across four measures: 1) perceived leadership in six stages of buying; 2) likelihood of being cross-functional partner to a leading role; 3) propensity to be a formal decision maker; and 4) perceived influence
on vendor opinion among those involved in Vendor Choice. Gartner source: http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt%3Fopen%3D512%26objID%3D202%26mode%3D2%26PageID%3D5553%26ref%3Dwebinar-rss%26resId%3D1871515
IT
Engineering
Operations
Prog. and Proj. Mngmnt
Finance
Bus. Development
Support
Accounting
Marketing
Purchasing
Sales
Research
Consulting/Ext. Consultant
Extremely Important 1 Very Important/ Important 2Importance to the decision process*
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 2
1 2 2 2
2 2 1 2
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
2
2
2
2
2
2

14. Complication #3: The buying group each have their own agenda.

15. What motivates this diverse group of decision-makers?
Proj. Mgmt. Finance Accounting
Top Factors Driving Willingness to Engage
IT Engineering Bus. Dev. Operations Purchasing Sales Support
Bases: N=32-598, recent technology buyers (last 3 months) in key functions
In general, how important are the following factors in your willingness to engage with sales professionals and other employees of [technology type] vendors? 15
Subject Matter Expertise
Consultation/Education/Tools
Business Model
Costs/Business Impact
User Adoption
Know/Trust Product /Service
Tier 1 audiences Tier 2 audiences

16. 16
Top reasons vendors make the short list
(% among those considering “new” vendors)
Base: n=122 Base: n=107 Base: n=86 Base: n=148
Bases: Technology decision process participants (last 3 months) in 11+ person companies across 11 major markets who shortlisted a company that is “new” (i.e., their company never worked with it)
Hardware for End Users
Cost-Price-Terms
Quality-Product
Reputation-Reviews
Support-Service
Hardware for Data Centers
Cost-Price-Terms
Subject Matter Expert-
Consult.
Quality-Reliability
References-Trust
Software for Data Centers
Subject Matter Expert-
Consult.
Features-Functionality
Cost-Price-Terms
Ease of Doing Business
Software for End Users
Fit Requirements
Materials-Case Study-POC*
Ease of Doing Business
User Experience

17. ​So what does the Tech
Purchasing Decision
Making Process Look
Like on LinkedIn?
17

18. 18
Meet Amanda Ong
• Amanda is part of the decision
making process for Data Centre
Software
• She is an Information Technology
Manager working in an Enterprise
size High Tech Company

19. 19
A bit about Amanda…
• 15 years in industry covering
engineering, operations and
information technology
Project Management
Skills Edu
Business Analysis
Integration
B. Science
Considering MBA

20. 20
Amanda is using LinkedIn
to connect with experts and
engage with relevant
content
Website page views
3X
Company Follows
2X
36% more
Content over jobs
7X
Mobile vs. DesktopConnected on LinkedIn
3X
What is Amanda doing on
LinkedIn?
Influencer Follows
4X

21. 21
When is she seeking out content
and for what needs?
Amanda consumes 2 to 4
distinct pieces of content at
each stage of the buying
cycle7 7
16
7
16
7
Needs Specs Vendor
Selection
Implementing Managing Renewing
Hours spent researching at each stage – Last 3
Months

22. 22
What sort of content is she
looking for on LinkedIn?
She is actively seeking
content to become a better
informed decision maker
Cloud
Computing
DB2
XML
Information
Security
IT Service
Mgmt
Mobile
Computing
Scalability
Test
Automation

23. 23
What else is she seeing on
LinkedIn?
Amanda is a popular profile
Industries sponsoring content to profiles
like Amanda’s in last 6 months
Growth in number of companies
targeting profiles like Amanda’s in last
6 months alone
Computer Software
Financial Services
Higher Education
100+
28%
Top 3

24. 24
So what does this all mean?
Using the information she
finds on LinkedIn, Amanda
is evaluating her options,
taking action and forming
her short list
1
Subject Matter Expert-
Consultation
Top reason data centre software vendors make the
short list:
2 Features-Functionality
3 Cost-Price-Terms
4 Ease of Doing Business

25. Now we know:
 The journey
 The players
 The areas of interest and motivation
 The content they want, when and where
they’re looking for it…
Put down your bearings: A strategy for open water
25

26. 26
Conquering complexity
Know your audience
Let us empower your
strategic planning.
Relevance is critical, call
on us for audience insights
(who, what, how)
Take action
Gain admin rights to your
company page and assess
your content needs and
resources such that you can
deliver value now
Engage with relevance
Build a content calendar for
various personas, and at each
stage of the sales cycle

27. Thank you