UK manufacturers choose SAP, but are happier with HP & Microsoft

UK manufacturing companies with yearly revenues of $1 billion or more use SAP as their primary provider for enterprise applications.

Analysis from research firm Kable has shown that although 50% of these companies use SAP, Microsoft and HP (each used by 25%) rank higher in terms of satisfaction.

Businesses have given Microsoft and HP an average satisfaction score of 4 out of 4, with SAP lagging behind with 3 points.

Interestingly, respondents said that when choosing their IT provider, expertise in their industry is the least important criteria.

Multibillion-pound British manufacturing firms said the most important factors are financial stability and geographical reach (both scoring 4 out of 4).

This is followed by breath of solution offerings and contract flexibility, both at 3.8, and leading-edge technology, price, and specific functionality expertise/depth, all scoring 3.5 points.

At the bottom of the criteria are financing options/payment terms and expertise in the manufacturing industry, with an average rating of 3 and 2.8 respectively.

According to Kable, the most influential business objectives that influence IT investment strategies are improving supplier relationships and increasing customer satisfaction.

National manufacturing firms said the above-mentioned criteria to be the most relevant and have attributed 3.3 points to both, on a scale that goes up to 4.

Following from this, those surveyed said achieving or maintaining regulatory compliance (3), increasing revenues (2.8) and raising efficiency (2.8) are the next business objectives influencing IT investment strategies, with cutting costs ranking the lowest at 2.3.

All figures come from Kable’s ICT Customer Insight survey, which polled 2685 respondents, from across the UK in Q4 2014. The survey findings include data on average ratings for the primary providers in enterprise applications, importance of various criteria in choosing an IT provider, and importance of various business objectives in influencing IT investment strategies. Subscribe to Kable here.