The IT vendor market has seen some tough competition this year and with the competition of all competitions – the Olympics- starting this week, I thought it might be fun to look at who the main contenders from the field of IT would be in our own Olympics.
The first event I wanted to look was boxing. For this event it has to be between the two heavy weights in the market, Capita and Vertex. Both have a lot of corporate muscle with an powerful range of solutions and services, though these may not always be clearly articulated or ‘joined up’. However, picking a winner is tough as it does depend on the arena they are performing in, if the prize is big enough the Capita strategic pitch and relationships are difficult to beat, but with the market leaders in both the portal and back office market, Vertex are real contenders and could increasingly be so.
On the track I was looking for a nimble/swift organisation to take the gold medals available in the sprints and with this in mind I looked towards IntelliFlo who continue to impress me with their speed of implementation (largely due to their underlying ASP business model). However, IntelliFlo have taken a step up in the size of clientele they now deal with and as a result I think we should consider them as contenders in the middle distance events. This perhaps leaves some of the smaller companies to fight it out for gold in the sprints amongst which I think Plum and Senro have to be two of the favourites and possibly Bluecoat too. Often overlooked by the bigger players, Plum and Senro are both nimble and responsive to client needs and continue to thrive with smaller clients. If however GBs Lynford Christie is to be followed as a guide it could be the biggest ‘package’ that wins, which I think points us back to IntelliFlo and 1st.
I now turn indoors to the Gymnastics. This event is a combination of style and strength and here I would see the battle being between Distribution Technology and True Potential. These are 2 of the slickest sales outfits in the market, with some genuine product and corporate strength to back it up.
I decided to also look at the medallist for Fencing. This is a sport based on a sharpness of wit and skill but one that has less presence and the winners are less well known. For this event I chose Crystal, Redland and Senro. Crystal is one of the less visible vendors in the market but one with considerable success behind them (including big projects at the likes of L&G and Mortgage Times). They are sharp and focused and a good bet in any close fight. Redland are also extremely sharp and beginning to make good headway this year and one to watch for the future. Equally, Senro are nimble and fast and so are also a viable contender for a medal.
Now to the Veladrome and I have to award the Cycling gold to AT8’s own Mark Thelwell for his courageous Charity ride last month where he road 100miles in the pouring rain, survived a crash and raised money for the Macmillan Charity.
My final Olympic event is the Triathlon and there are many contenders trying for gold here– claiming to compete well in the front, middle and back office. Focus with 360, Vertex with their whole of office pitch, Crystal with Momentum, Distribution Technology with DPOS and not forgetting True Potential. This is perhaps the most interesting and wide open event and certainly a battle I am looking forward to seeing play out.
