The "Big Picture" charts are the heart of the Vendor Value survey; they provide ratings of 38 vendors on eight different value factors, along with data on what kinds of products and services are being used by their customers. This year, online readers can sort the data for the first time.

The Big Picture charts presents ratings for overall value , and the " value " and " reliability " factors that make up that score. (IT executives rank their vendors "excellent," "good," "fair" and "poor", and the percent of customers that rate them as "excellent" or "good" makes up the score.) Respondents are also asked about their loyalty to their vendors; because it is based on a yes/no question, this score is not averaged into the overall rating.

Value:

• Meeting my company's expectations for increasing revenues (or achieving mission, if not-for-profit)
• Meeting my company's expectations for lowering business or IT costs
• Solving the business problem their products or services were purchased or engaged to solve
• Meeting my company's ROI (business value) expectations

Reliability:

• Meeting commitments to my company on time and budget
• Being flexible and responsive to my company's needs
• Meeting my company's quality expectations for their products and services

Loyalty:

• If you had a choice, would you continue to do business with the vendor? (yes, no)

Respondents are also asked about the nature of the relationship they have with their vendor during the past 12 months. These relationships include consulting, outsourcing, telecommunications services, hardware, software and security.

Next: ' Overall ' >>

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