Vendors are obliged by law to provide warranty on the products they sell. IT vendors have gone further, and offer customers annual maintenance contracts to support the production environment. Tiered offerings give customers the option to tune the maintenance they receive to suit their needs. Online tools, combined with access to technical personnel in development hubs provide the re-assurance that the computing environment will be fit for purpose.
However, what started as good customer service has in many cases become a cash-cow. With revenue and profit growth as the main objective, many vendors are now incurring customer dissatisfaction, and even defection. Why have things gone awry?
Our study on the the state of maintenance will examine the role of maintenance for a cross section of technology vendors, compare offerings and examine tools introduced to reduce costs and/or increase customer satisfaction. We will also look at third party maintenance and its main providers.