| Networking Products
The customer satisfaction trends in the networking products market are up for
some changes. The two important satisfaction parameters last yearproduct and
post-sales servicecontinue to retain their importance this year as well. But,
down the order, the market witnessed transformation in the satisfaction
patterns.
Price and commercial gave way to pre-sales and marketing as the next most
important satisfaction parameter. The increase in relative importance of
satisfaction parameter, however, doesnt necessarily mean improvement in
satisfaction score as well, which remained unchanged at 84.3 points.
 |
| While Cisco maintaining its top
rank is not a surprise, the real story is 3Coms rise. And, the interesting
bit is not so much to do with its jump from number 4 to number 2, but more
to do with the extent of its improvement in the satisfaction scorecard.
This, when all the other players, including Cisco, saw a fall (albeit minor)
in their satisfaction scores |
The overall satisfaction of networking products among the users of
enterprises has increased by 0.6% (from 83.8 to 84.3) as compared to last year,
with the major contributors being improvement on the counts of delivery and
installation, followed by price and commercial.
The key highlight of the survey findings is the revival of 3Com, which moved
up two ranks (from four to two). More importantly, it is the extent of
improvement with which it has made it to the #2 spot. The claim to fame is not
just about making it to that position, but also being a thin margin away from
the tank ranker. Against market leader Cisco, its no mean feat.
Interestingly, 3Com is the only company to have improved its satisfaction
score, while all the remaining, including Cisco, witnessed a drop in
satisfaction scores over last year. The company improved its satisfaction from
80.4 points last year to the current 85.8 points. This has been contributed
mainly by clarity of pricing contract and TCO (price and commercial) and
demonstration and training (delivery and installation).
 |
| 3Coms ascendance has been majorly
contributed by the companys ability to satisfy CIOs on the counts of
clarity of pricing contract and total cost of ownership (price & commercial)
and demonstration and training (delivery & installation). However, the not
so good news for the company is that it has fared below the industry average
when it comes to satisfying CIOs on the most important parameter of product |
3Com has scored the highest satisfaction score on three of the five key
satisfaction parameters. This becomes significant when compared to the companys
performance last year, wherein it had scored the lowest on four of the five key
parameters. The management changes the company has witnessed over the last one
year may have something to do with the revival. Management changes could have
brought in new thinking, newer ideas and fresh focus on certain areas like
pre-sales and marketing.
Cisco, however, maintains its supremacy on the product and post-sales service
parameters. There is nothing to beat Cisco when it comes to product reliability,
functionality, and convenience in operation and adoption of the product.
Customers are also happy with its responsiveness to technical queries. However,
a cause for concern for the vendor is that CIOs have rated it lower than 3Com
when it comes to value for money, clarity of pricing contract, vendor
understanding/domain knowledge, demonstration/training and expertise to resolve
problem.
| To
support critical customer networks, the post-sales vehicle is very
important Tata
Rao, senior VP, Systems Engineering, Cisco, India & SAARC |
How
proactive is Cisco on the customer satisfaction front?
Customer satisfaction has always been a core value at Cisco. The company has
been measuring customer satisfaction since 1992, through a formal and
stringent process. The customer listening team within Cisco manages a yearly
global customer satisfaction survey. It measures the customer sentiment
toward the companys account teams, products, services and partners,
involving nearly 100,000 responses each year. The customer feedback
collected by the team is analysed and addressed accordingly. In most cases,
specific action points are drawn-up with sign-off from customers, and then
acted upon followed by constant interaction with customers on those aspects.
This closed loop process ensures that we are able to immediately respond to
customer needs and address them completely and promptly.
 What
are the key customer-related initiatives by Cisco?
Some of our major initiatives consist of effectively identifying
customer business requirements leading to product feature/software
enhancement on Cisco products; availability of a very strong Cisco channel
organization responsible for selling and implementation of Cisco products
and technologies to customers satisfaction; education initiatives for Cisco
channel partners and also customer training programs on various Cisco
products and technologies; availability of Logistics Centers in a large
number of cities in India; easy access to Cisco Technical Assistance Center,
24x7, for resolving any network related issue.
How are the customer satisfaction trends
changing in the networking market?
One of the most significant changes consists of requirement of more
product features for enhancing a service or business by customers. Another
emerging trend relating to maintaining customer satisfaction is the
capability of networking vendors to sell and implement the complete
solution, rather than disjointed products that are not integrated. This
requires specialized skills on various technology areas, and a clearer
understanding of the business and customer requirements, a skilled channel
and technology backing by the vendor itself.
What are some of the customer
satisfaction-related challenges faced by networking product vendors?
With the advent of newer technologies like unified communications,
video, mobility, IPTV, large campus networks, pervasive security
requirements, data centers, wireless cities, among others, the need to scale
the skill level and awareness of the entire community is another big
challenge. This requires a lot of investment in developing and rolling out
new training programs to spread technical awareness about the successful
implementation of new technologies and products. |
 |
| Cisco maintains lead with a comfortable
margin over its competitors on a majority of the sub parameters of product
and post-sales servicethe two most important factors determining
satisfaction for CIOs. All said and done, it is also the only vendor that
has consistently scored above the industry average on all the derivates of
these two parameters, while 3Com has missed it on at least four counts |
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