The predicted economic downturn could be good news for customers because it will shake up an IT industry that has grown fat and needs to sharpen up its act. In a challenging economic climate not every organisation will feel the pain.

While a large proportion of the tin-shifters and service-shirkers may indeed go to the wall; those organisations able to demonstrate true service, agility and expertise to deliver customer value will not only succeed, but flourish as the recession bites.

There has been a significant change in mindset since the last serious economic
downturn in the UK. Rather than dwelling on the negatives, today, savvy directors and managers view a looming market slump as a significant opportunity to assess the quality of service they are receiving from their suppliers.

In the IT market, there will be a very clear shift towards strong performers grasping the opportunity to shine, gaining significant market share on the back of others’ failure, and offering their lucky customers much more bang for their buck.

Business customers are in an incredibly strong position in this market, with many already taking advantage of the opportunity to change their behaviour and attitude towards IT service providers.

They recognise that to sustain business during a downturn they need to be agile, to have easily available IT systems and feel ever greater pressure to ensure excellent customer service to their own users.

To achieve these objectives, businesses should not be afraid of placing greater demands on IT service providers.

Customers should demand not only strong balance sheets and compliance to necessary industry or regulatory standards, but also committed, permanent staff with proven skills. In a tight, competitive climate, they should not be willing to be fobbed off with an ever-changing cast of uncommitted contractors.

This far more measured spend will have a dramatic and immediate effect on the IT
services market. There is simply no way that most of organisations will be able to
demonstrate the required staffing levels, service quality, agility or financial strength. The dead wood will be shaken loose and the market will emerge stronger than ever through corporate selection.

And this is no bad thing for an industry that has far more than its fair share of organisations that have relied on high-volume, low-margin, boom-time business. Those companies that have ignored customer service and failed to even attempt to retain unhappy customers, simply do not have the business strength to sustain a downturn or meet the growing customer demand for added value.

For those organisations that have the skills, agility and processes in place to deliver excellent services in a highly efficient operation, an economic downturn will drive out competition, boost revenues and support significant growth, while offering customers a whole new level of service quality.

Scott Nursten is managing director of S2S