IT systems management solutions are frameworks or applications suites that enable organizations to centrally manage their IT assets, infrastructure, services and networks, and to view them from a business perspective.
Many significant changes are occurring in the enterprise IT space. There are paradigm shifts that are influencing the way enterprises see their IT deployments and how they justify the value of IT to the organization. These changes will raise the profile of IT systems management solutions and increase their strategic importance to IT vendors and enterprises alike.
Rapid technological change will affect the IT systems management market, and this change will be driven by the increasing strategic importance of IT optimization and simplification in the enterprise.
Datamonitor has developed a decision matrix to help businesses select vendors based on their technology strength, reputation among customers, and impact in the market. It provides a complete view of vendor capabilities and advises on those that enterprises should explore, consider and, most importantly, shortlist.
Key findings from recent Datamonitor research reveal:
IBM comes top in impact and user sentiment
IBM is in a clear overall lead in IT systems management, with its broad and extensive Tivoli offering that spans almost all aspects of IT systems management. IBM also receives the best user sentiment rating and has the best reputation among enterprises.
The company suffers slightly from being associated with hardware in the large enterprise space, but this has not impeded its success in the market.
IBM is expected to continue to lead in this market due to its superior vertical reach and continuous improvement of its technology. Innovation and acquisitions and leadership in the service-oriented architecture (SOA) space will continue to give IBM an edge in terms of technology for the next two years.
HP’s solid product has impressed end users
HP has succeeded in growing its systems management revenues rapidly over the past two years, and end user sentiment ratings clearly show that its user base is satisfied with its performance.
However, much of this user base is thought to be still driven by the server business, through bundling and cross-selling, and HP still has untapped growth potential in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises that do not use its servers.
HP is very technically innovative; a trait that has been bolstered by the acquisition of Mercury. Nevertheless, HP occasionally suffers from practical issues when implementing these innovations. The company is expected to resolve this issue rapidly as its system management products mature. It is likely to increase its market impact over the next two years as it integrates Mercury’s technology and maintains its rapid revenue growth.
CA suffers from marketing issues and poor user sentiment
From a purely technological point of view, CA is a joint leader with IBM as it has an excellent product, as well as an exceptionally well informed and supportive board of directors.
Despite this, CA suffers from product confusion and other marketing issues. Additionally, CA has been in the midst of a re-branding exercise that has exacerbated these issues. This has combined with CA’s legal woes and contributed to its relatively low user sentiment rating.
Despite having high revenues and a large installed base, CA’s market impact has been hit by sub-par revenue growth. CA’s relatively low market impact and user sentiment ratings have left it out of the shortlist, but the company’s technology leadership should enable it to reach shortlist status over the next two years, if it deals effectively with its marketing-related issues.
