Another day another mega merger (the most recent being the deal between HP and EDS) and another squeeze in range of IT service partners users can choose between. But what does market consolidation in general mean to the IT director?

As much as suppliers want market consolidation in order to ‘streamline’, ‘synergise’ and provide ‘one-stop-shops’ - IT users want choice.

IT users value a diverse and competitive market and are reluctant to put all their eggs into any one basket.

Users don’t worry significantly about the business risks of depending on such companies. After all, large vendors are financially secure and technically very able and customers can benefit from economies of scale.

What concerns IT users the most is that when any one supplier grows too big, control slips as the balance of power changes. When suppliers grow very large - far larger than the user organisation - relationships become unbalanced.When there’s such a vast difference in size, competency, capability and revenue generation, relationships become no longer based on a ‘partnership of equals’. This in turn tends to impact on the quality of service users receive. Users report that after large mergers have taken place, response times can slow, creativity tends to suffer, account team continuity is often poor and senior-level access can be virtually non-existent.

Commenting on their own experiences of market consolidation during one of our confidential workshops, one IT chief said:

“For us, there was a feeling that we were not in control anymore. It was difficult to know how to steer the relationship - we felt that we were ‘having things done to us’. The quality of your service will depend largely on the ability and prior experience of the people who ‘arrive’ on your account and are given to you.”