Customer centricity rules

Almost nine out of ten information technology decision makers plan to invest in customer-focused technology regardless of their IT budget, concludes a recent survey by Glance Networks.

The survey found a fair amount of respondents whose company had stagnant (65%) or decreased (40%) budgets in the past three years had still increased or upgraded a customer-focused technology during the same period. Not surprisingly, the majority of IT decision makers who have increased or upgraded a customer-focused technology also have increased their overall budget.

One in five respondents indicated that requests for customer-centric technology originated from all employee levels at their companies, signifying that the technology is a critical factor in helping employees appropriately complete their jobs.

"Being a customer-centric organization is no longer a brand differentiator, but an expectation from consumers. Every day more consumers place increasing value on brands who help, and IT decision makers are recognizing and reacting to this trend," says Tom Martin, CEO of Glance Networks.

A concern among IT decision makers is whether the newly invested technology will be fully utilized by employees. The percentages of companies that provide mandatory training programs provided by either an internal IT team or a vendor are fairly low at 68% and 44% respectively.