IT Trends through the Lens of Buyer Personas

CompTIA Research Roundup
A Look at Trends through the Lens of Buyer Personas
Tim Herbert
Seth Robinson
Carolyn April
Copyright (c) 2014 CompTIA Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved. www.comptia.org

The Buyer-First Approach to Trends Discussions
Trends
Customer
Customer Trends
www.comptia.org

#1
Mr. Blue
#3
Mr. Purple
#2
Ms. Orange
#4
Ms. Green
#5
Mr. Red
Copyright (c) 2014 CompTIA Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
www.comptia.org

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Channel Focused Research
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Buzzword Watch
Early / Niche Gaining Traction On Its Way
- Wearables
- 3-D printing
- Internet of Things
- OpenStack
- Smart building technologies
- Sensorization
- Software defined networking
- Machine learning
- In-memory computing
- Telemedicine
- Object-based storage
- Biometrics
- WeChat
- NoSQL
- Zombie refrigerators
- Zero-trust security
- Bit pay
- Neuromorphic computing
- Quantum computing
- Flexible displays
- iBeacon
- Commercial drones
- Uber-fication of services
- WiGig
- WiMann
- DuckDuckGo
- Phablets
- Mobile device payments
- Gamification
- MOOCs
- Social business applications
- Big data / Small data
- Business oriented consumer
tech
- Personal clouds
- Content marketing
- All SSD
- Adaptive learning
- Interactive digital signage
Source: CompTIA
www.comptia.org

Mr. Blue Customer Profile
- CEO of a mid-size regional retail chain;
300 employees, 10 locations
- Reasonably tech savvy
#1
Mr. Blue
- What keeps him awake at night? The many threats
to the traditional retail model (e.g. showrooming)
- Budget constraints always tight in the retail sector, however,
Mr. Blue is willing to spend for innovative solutions
- Potential blind spot: security, data safeguards,
business continuity

Every Business, a Digital Business? Retail
Sector
Study
Importance of Technology to Retailers
13%
48%
35%
NET
Unimportant
NET
Important
Neutral
Very
Important
Important

Reality Check: Transitions Take Time
Self-Reported Print Volume Assessment
22%
33% 34%
11%
Very high
volumes
Moder-ately
high
volumes
Mid-level
volumes
Low
volumes
Managed
Print
98% of end users
report printing at least
once per quarter
during the past year

Making the Case for Becoming More Data Savvy
8 in 10 executives
agree to the
statement (NET):
"If we could harness
all of our data, we'd
be a much stronger
business”
Top 5 Consequences of Ineffectively Managing/Using Data
1
2
3
4
5
Wasted time that could be spent in
other areas of the business
Internal confusion over priorities
Inefficient or slow decision-making / Lack of agility
Inability to effectively assess staff performance
Lost sales
2nd
Annual
Big Data

Addressing Data Strategy Gaps
Silos Reduce Data Utility BC/DR Planning Shortfalls
16%
56%
28%
High degree of data silos
Moderate degree of silos
Little or no silos
25%
Small Firms Medium Firms
44%
31%
12%
35%
54%
Comprehensive
Plan/System
in Place
Partial
Plan/System
in Place
No or Limited
Plan/System
in Place
2nd
Annual
Big Data

Ms. Orange Profile
#2
Ms. Orange
- CIO of a mid-size financial services firm;
150 employees; 25 percent of staff
remote
- What keeps her awake at night? Balancing the need to
maintain stability with IT systems that handle sensitive
data with the desire to transition to next gen technology.
- Has money to spend, but due to risk averse nature, proceeds
methodically and engages in extreme due diligence.
- With many high-priced employees, always looking for tools
to improve staff productivity.

Cloud Wars Intensify
2014
Outlook
Public cloud
space shaping
around 3 major
players
Private cloud
has lots of
traction

Multi-cloud architectures prevalent
Public Cloud
Provider #1 Public Cloud
Provider #2
Private
Cloud
32%
On-premise
System
Company ABC
29%
57%
5th
Annual
Cloud

Use and Utility of Communications Tools
Implementation and Plans for Communications Tools
Deployed to all
employees
Deployed to
segments
Plan to deploy
over next year
BPA and
Comms
No plans to
deploy
Email 79% 14% 30% 29%
Analog telephone system 43% 23% 24% 34%
VoIP telephone system 28% 32% 17% 22%
Instant messaging 51% 27% 11% 8%
Mobile devices 35% 50% 16% 16%
Collaboration platform 34% 38% 11% 8%
Web conferencing 31% 43% 8% 7%
Video conferencing 26% 42% 10% 9%
Social enterprise tools 17% 27% 9% 9%

Mr. Purple Profile
#3
Mr. Purple
- “IT guy” of a small 30-person non-profit
association; 26 years old
- Wears many hats in role
- What keeps him awake at night? Nothing. He’s a millennial : )
- His CEO just wants “IT to work.” Little interest in the details.
- Well versed in Google Docs, DropBox, Apps and related
consumer tech.
- Experiences sticker shock with traditional IT vendor offerings.
- IT management approach lacks structure
- Ad hoc use of a break/fix services firm (found through Yelp)

Time to Rebrand the ‘Trusted Advisor’
Gen Y Gen X Baby Boomer
11%
53%
27%
7%
7%
37%
42%
13%
2%
33%
43%
22%
Cutting edge use of tech
Upper tier use of tech
Mid-tier use of tech
Lower tier use of tech
Generat-ional
Issues
Study
Younger,
tech-savvy
workers
tend to vet
own IT and
seek to
collaborate
with tech
suppliers.

Managed Services: Hit or Miss? Managed
Channel Self-Assessment is High
10%
52%
39%
Early on
Learning
Curve/Too
Soon to Tell
Skilled
Expert
Competent
and Getting
Better
And yet...
Just 3 in 10 end
user organizations
today say they are
using managed
services in some
fashion.
What gives?
Services
Trends

23%
19%
25%
36%
34%
32%
4th
State of
Channel
40%
Sales training to enable reps to sell to non-
IT executives
Use of social media to target non-IT
executives
Redesign marketing collateral with more of
an end-user focus
Focus less on HW/SW specs and more on
total solutions
Hire new sales reps with experience in
vertical industries
Maintain dual approach for business and IT
execs to meet both needs
Incentives for staff to further engage with
business execs
34% of channel
firms plan
MAJOR change
to their sales
operations in the
coming year
Sales Strategy Overhaul

Ms. Green Profile
#4
Ms. Green
- CTO of a regional hospital group
with 3,000 employees
- What keeps her awake at night? Reducing IT expenditures on
routine maintenance to focus more on innovation.
- Keeping up with the pace of change
- Sophisticated with technology in some areas; lagging in others
- Technology skills gaps among existing staff and finding workers
with certain types of expertise a challenge

New Platforms and Ecosystems Emerging
19%
40%
39%
39%
39%
36%
42%
Integrating mobile devices
Balancing the needs of end users and IT
Supporting multiple OS
Supporting devices remotely
Enforcing mobility policy among end users
Rapid pace of innovation in mobility
Managing suggestions from end users
3rd
Annual
Mobility

Software’s Appetite is Not Satisfied
SDN market
projected to
reach $3.6B
in revenue by
2019 Cloud APIs
increasingly
important in
multi-cloud
environments
2014
Outlook
AllSeen, Thread,
and Open
Interconnect
Consortium
driving IoT
standards

Reinvesting in Technical Expertise
12%
9%
19%
15%
33%
28%
23%
29%
39%
48%
Technicians or IT support/service
Application developers
Cloud expertise
Network engineers
Security expertise
Project managers
Consultative sales staff
Marketing staff
Inside sales staff
Social media expertise
52%
2Q
Biz Con
48%
Types of Jobs Being Filled
U.S. IT Firms with Openings
Yes
No

Mr. Red Profile
#5
Mr. Red
- CMO of a small 75-person niche
manufacturer
- What keeps him awake at night? Legacy IT infrastructure, making
business agility difficult
- CMO tires of getting ‘no’ from Director of IT satisfied with status quo
- Has budget and willing to spend for speed of implementation (tired
of waiting); little awareness of IT solution providers, MSPs, etc.
- Flexibility and a great user experience top purchase considerations
- Mobility and social solutions are areas of interest

Strategic Business Priorities Managed
16%
37%
34%
42%
52%
50%
56%
Reducing costs/overhead
Improving staff
productivity/capabilities
Reaching new customer segments
Improving data analytics for
better/faster decisions
Innovating more effectively
Improving operational efficiency
Managing competitive threats
Services
Trends

Mobility Challenges Spark Opportunity 3rd
20%
16%
33%
31%
30%
29%
36%
45%
Mobility skill level of general staff
Making systems accessible securely
Determining cost/ROI of mobile solutions
Mobility skill level of IT staff
Users not familiar with company policy
Optimizing business applications
Maintaining mobile & Internet offerings
Finding mobile application developers
Mobility
Trends

Convergence Opens Doors
Where should traditional telecom services
fit into an IT channel firm’s portfolio?
2%
32%
66%
Not a component Opportunistic Core
Convergence Driven by
Customer Needs
All things cloud
Mobility integration
IT-Telecom
Trends
Unified communications
Phone/video integration
capabilities

IT Trends through the Lens of Buyer Personas

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Editor's Notes