Examining What It Means To Be Vendor-Neutral

Confidence in digital transformations took a real knock during the first wave of the pandemic. One survey found that 53% of CFOs across the United States deferred or cancelled IT investment at the onset of the pandemic.

But two years on, digital transformation is back at the top of business leaders' minds, with estimations that, by 2025, 51% of IT spending will have shifted from traditional solutions to the public cloud .

ITSM is bound to be a pivotal component of any digital transformation. But selecting the right ITSM solution that best suits your organisation can be a minefield and an expensive one at that.

The Role of ITSM in Digital Transformation

The ITSM market has snowballed in recent years, accelerated by the pandemic, which necessitated people to work from home and enterprises to embrace digitalisation.

The correct deployment of ITSM software should be the key to a successful digital transformation, reducing the hours spent on routine processes, eliminating a layer of costs, and providing a faster, more agile, and more productive network.

Unfortunately, far too often, enterprises take a hit from the cost of unnecessary licenses and the inflated fees for implementation services which fail to deliver the gains promised.

Research last year among 250 CTOs, CIOs, and senior IT decision-makers from public and private sectors across the UK and Ireland illustrates the extent of the problem. Bear in mind these statistics :

●?????92% of IT decision-makers believe ITSM implementers fail to meet customers' needs.

●?????55% have changed or stopped working with their chosen implementer because of failure to deliver what they needed.

●?????49% suspect an implementer has sold them or is trying to sell them more software licenses than they require.

It is clear from these findings that many customers see the current ITSM market as opaque and unsatisfactory, with poor results and higher-than-necessary costs. If you are to experience a successful digital transformation and the benefits that come with it, it is crucial you partner with the right ITSM implementer for your business.

So is the answer to opt for vendor-neutral implementers?

Many of the pitfalls mentioned above are avoidable if enterprises select a vendor-neutral implementation partner instead. Here are the main advantages:

1. Complete focus on your success.

As with any business partnership, vendors have a financial incentive to complete their job. If this is their main priority, it may influence the approach they take and the decisions they make.

Being vendor-neutral results in a solution that is genuinely aimed at achieving your goals rather than doing something beneficial to the provider-vendor relationship. Vendor neutrality involves making decisions pragmatically regarding the best options, rather than favouring one vendor over another for some other type of benefit.

2. Greater expertise.

An implementation team that takes a vendor-neutral approach to ITSM implementation will have much greater experience with machines, systems, and platforms – and, perhaps, more importantly, they will have more experience at achieving results, even when using tools that don't fit neatly into a pre-defined, vendor-specific box. This means enterprises won't have to purchase any new equipment nor need to compromise on features or functionality.

3. A holistic solution.

Following on from the previous point: when an implementer is vendor-specific, the solution may not be complete because of the limitations of a particular vendor. This problem doesn't crop up when working with a vendor-neutral provider, resulting in a more holistic solution.

4. More choices regarding equipment and machines.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is a common saying and one particularly apt to ITSM implementation.

Using vendor-neutral partners means you can continue using vendors you are familiar with and trust. You can also move on to other vendors if you wish to – there are no restrictions on who you can work with and what tools you can use.

5. Ongoing budget and efficiency savings.

You will see the financial benefits of vendor-neutral implementation in various ways. With its holistic approach, the solution will deliver maximum efficiency savings, while you will also save costs when upgrading, expanding, or replacing your machines or equipment because you won't be tied to one specific vendor.

The Full Picture

I have painted a very rosy picture so far of vendor neutrality, but as with anything, some challenges come with being vendor-neutral.

It can cause problems for vendors who want to know that partners are batting for them and them alone. Their response may be to tell customers that there is a quality challenge working with non-certified partners and will prevent access to software and documentation, hindering the implementation process.

Vendors can't restrict support for customers based on their choice of implementer, but when a successful implementation does occur, it's often because of a great working relationship between vendor, implementer and customer. Vendors may not have the processes to ensure that all support is provided equally to drive the desired outcomes. From a customer's perspective, they may have difficulty understanding precisely what vendor-neutral providers can and can't do.

Our Approach at Xcession

In terms of vendor neutrality, Xcession does not focus on any one vendor's platforms and tools, but rather our approach is to focus on the outcomes - what do our customers want from their tooling? What are they hoping to achieve? We have in place solution architecture designed to help organisations improve customer experience, agility, and service management productivity.

As a fully remote business, we do not carry any of the traditional costs that other implementers do. Our lack of offices and infrastructure allows us to pass these savings on to our customers. Depending on the requirement, we can use an appropriate mix of onshore and offshore consultants to minimise our charges.

With experience working for major enterprises all across the UK and Ireland, Xcession is wholly customer-focused and highly committed to delivery. Xcession is a partner you can trust.

Xcession is an expert ITSM implementer, application managed services provider and consultancy.

To learn more, visit our website , or read our ITSM predictions document for 2022 and 2023.