With the recent buzz around the new iPhone 4 and excitement for the coming of 4G cell networks, the battle to come out on top is at an all-time high. Recently, Sprint became the first network to offer 4G service, but this exciting jump ahead does not come without complications – and it is exactly these types of things that make it the perfect time to sell into cell providers.

Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse stated in their most recent earnings call that they have been having difficulty with their supply chain, especially surrounding their 4G phones since the launch of the new network. “Now, a combination of the economy improving and all of a sudden some real increased customer demand for these high-end devices is putting some strain on the supply chain. So we are working with our suppliers very closely…to try to get as much inventory as we can. We are supply constraint…we could definitely sell more if we could get more.”

Now that Sprint Nextel has finally gotten a leg up on the competition (mainly Verizon and AT&T) now is the most crucial moment to ensure that they maintain their competitive advantage. Disruptions in their supply chain while the spotlight is on them will cause permanent setbacks for their 4G campaigns moving forward, especially when Verizon and AT&T catch up to the game.

Not only does Sprint have to worry about its 4G service, but also if it wants to remain a player in the wireless market, it needs to solve its problems with its standard service quality. Since Sprint bought Nextel in 2005, the company has been struggling with the integration of the two networks while supporting the customer base of both sides. They suffered from initial technical problems that caused call quality issues in 2006, but even in 2009, they still haven’t found the solution. For now, the company has selected Ericsson to run its network, but moving forward they plain to pair down their two separate networks to eventually run as a single entity.

In the meantime, Sprint Nextel’s customer management organization is working to fill their service gaps in hasty efforts to maintain the current subscribers of their wireless services. They are planning initiatives that are designed to improve call center processes and procedures and will be investing in solutions to improve satisfaction when problems so arise.

At a time when the company is finally getting some traction to take a competitive advantage is a very tough-to-crack space, it seems that Sprint Nextel is encountering some serious supply & service issues. These things are at the very base of a successful company because they directly face the customer. You can bet the company will be heavily investing to ensure that these complications don’t ruin their current brush with success in the wireless world.

For more actionable projects and initiatives within the Fortune 1000 and Global 500, check out the Technology Business Drivers document with more than 25 FREE samples just like this and start winning more business.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Outsourcing major business processes to major providers, especially offshore outsourcing companies like Wipro and Mahindra Satyam, has been a common fix for decreasing IT budgets in a struggling economy. As these providers support more and more Fortune 1000 and Global 500 giants, many of who are direct competitors, the issue of overuse, and consequently, security, come into play. While working with a more experienced and renowned company may seem more safe, companies like Credit Suisse, who are dealing with very sensitive, private client information are turning to smaller, “less risky” providers to work on their projects.

Initiatives such as risk mitigation and working with niche suppliers is a part of Credit Suisse’s multi-year IT transformation, aimed at creating centers of excellence across India, China, US and Singapore. These centers will specialize in different set of capabilities in the banking domain, such as efficiency, productivity and support. Credit Suisse has been outsourcing its software application maintenance and development projects to Wipro and Cognizant for a few years, but from 2009 forward will work with almost eight smaller, niche firms, such as Headstrong, as the company seeks to mitigate risks associated with two large suppliers. The bank was also reevaluating their contract with HP in the middle of 2009 and was potentially looking to sign a contract with another company for managing their servers and desktops.

Divyesh Vithlani, managing director and chief information officer of Credit Suisse Asia Pacific said, “As part of our second phase of outsourcing, we plan to outsource almost 40 percent of niche projects to around six to eight smaller vendors,” he said. Some of the niche projects would include delivering solutions based on the banking software T24 offered by Temenos, apart from other specific applications. “We want redundancy and do not want to concentrate our risks,” he added.

So what does this mean? For reps at smaller outsourcing companies, this could be a huge opportunity to displace the outsourcing giants that continue to shadow over potential deals with big-time Fortune 1000 prospects. With this competitive insight, you could have a new value proposition to allow you to break into these accounts.  How will you make sure that enterprise IT budgets, like Credit Suisse’s will be spent on your company’s services? It’s all about the competition: these companies compete with each other just as much as you’re constantly looking for ways to gain the upper hand on your competitors. As soon as you mention that one of their competitors has taken action towards solutions like yours, their ears will be WIDE open.

For more current technology initiatives and free technology sales leads in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500, check out our Technology Business Drivers document.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

With tech spending finally on the rise again, business needs that may have been pushed aside due to cost cutting initiatives are finally starting to be addressed again. This, of course, means that companies, especially large enterprises and the Fortune 1000, will be investing in solutions that may not be crucial for the day-to-day functioning of the business, but that may increase profitability or ease a (less crucial) business pain.

Wholesale retailer BJ’s has formulated an entire technology revamp project that they call IT Roadmap, which is expected to cost them $20-30 million per year until 2013. The project is meant to pull the company out of the economic depression by capitalizing on opportunities for improvement and updates in their systems and processes, especially ones that may have fallen by the wayside over the last few years. These improvements include their sales reporting, financial and membership systems.

As the economy stabilizes, the BJ’s knows it needs to capitalize on their customers’ imminent increase in spending by catering to them in the most efficient way possible. BJ’s plans to complete their HR system upgrade, pilot new store registers and launch a new e-commerce website in 2010. BJ’s expects these investments will cost approximately $68 million.

As part of the their focus on customer data, BJ’s is taking a close look at product and data management and will also be pursuing a master data management (MDM) initiative. They are looking to link customer “membership” data to their product data so that any patterns or inconsistencies can be analyzed (through an ERP system) and then use this information to optimize their supply chain, product offerings, and e-commerce/point-of-sale systems according to what their customers’ behaviors are.

There are two separate components to the initiative, according former CIO John Polizzi: a business and a tactical project. “We chose the membership and product data management system as the first two areas where we are going to look to externalize our master data from any application. Then, as we choose an ERP system, that will be the data source that feeds the ERP data.” BJ’s is currently in the process of selecting an ERP system, which is to be planned for implementation by 2012.

Clearly, BJ’s and other retailers are finally ready to spend again. They realize that in order to stay competitive, they must spend now. If your organization is already established in the retail vertical, now is the time to refocus your efforts on finding the business needs within these accounts and then aligning you product to become the solution. If you are looking to expand your target industries, retail is a ripe opportunity as consumers are beginning to spend again and retailers, more than ever, need to cater to their customers’ needs.

For more current technology initiatives and free technology sales leads in the Fortune 1000 and Global 500, check out our Technology Business Drivers document.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

With ideas of public and government funded healthcare on the rise, insurance providers, more than ever, need to find new ways to innovate their technology to remain competitive. Seamless, dependable patient care is absolutely crucial in the insurance industry, and the amount of data behind each and every patient is not only extensive, but incredibly valuable and also irreplaceable.

UnitedHealth seems to understand the need for reliable data storage and how to optimize the usability of their patients’ records. The company announced plans to begin construction in summer 2010 on a $100 million-plus data center in Chaska, Minn., and expects to complete the 190,000 square foot facility sometime in 2012.

The company said that the new facility will “help increase the company’s data center capabilities.” UnitedHealth has several IT initiatives that illustrate the potential for health care applications to boost demand for data center space. For example, their subsidiary Optum Health operates the eSync Platform, is designed to synchronize health care records from multiple providers and healthcare facilities to supply a consolidated profile of a patient’s health history.

Clearly, the ability to securely store and manipulate data is paramount for the company’s success. According to the company strategy, “UnitedHealth applies technology to make health care function better and executes complex health-related transactions on a huge scale. They are entrusted with one of the largest collections of clinical data in the world, and they must keep it protected, organized and backed up so that they can continue to analyze and convert it into useful, actionable information.” This company-wide focus makes UnitedHealth (and their competitors in the healthcare market) the perfect candidates to sell a variety of technologies to. Leveraging this data security and functionality issue can help you create a business case that will close more deals, and faster. If there was ever a time to capitalize on the healthcare market, it is now.

The information in this post was found through the SalesQuest team’s extensive research in compiling “technology business drivers.” For more information like this, check out our business driver samples.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Moving into a new decade, technology is only going to become more advanced, and with that, more services are needed to support new technology and its infrastructure. Businesses must use technology to stay in operation and be profitable, but even more; they must be using the newest technology that fits their needs so that they have a competitive advantage and remain profitable. This is especially important in a tough economy as Ann Bednarz highlights in her piece on technology industry trends; if you’re selling to the enterprise, ROI will be crucial to making a sale in 2010 as budgets become tighter and tighter.

When selling an enterprise technology solution, you must communicate how your solution is going to help the customer solve a problem or an opportunity. These technology trends were identified using current business drivers within Fortune 1000 companies and what they’re saying they need to fix or expand in 2010. These are areas will not only be important next year, but over the course of the next few years, and they will have a profound impact on how businesses operate and where they spend their IT budgets.

• Cloud Computing
• Green IT (data center greening, desktop power use)
• Mobile Devices (laptops, smartphones)
• Virtualization
• Security Compliance (government regulations, data breaches)
• IT Cost Optimization
• Outsourcing and Insourcing (service providers)
• Software as a Service (SaaS) (software via the internet)
• E-Commerce
• Grid Computing
Enterprise Technology Buying Trends in 2010
View more presentations from SalesQuest.

Check out our SlideShare document providing more detail and examples of these trends in the Fortune 1000 and why they will be important when selling enterprise technology in the upcoming years.

- Mark Kilens
mark . kilens@salesquest.com
978-749-9999 ext. 118

©2010 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.