Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Customers Weigh in on Proposed MergerConcerns Appear to be Limited, with Many Adopting a "Wait-and-see" Attitude While Remaining Supportive of Their Vendors
BUSINESS WIRE - March 06, 2002 16:08
HAMPTON, N.H., Mar 6, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Between Feb. 25 and March 4, 2002 Technology Business Research Inc. conducted a completely independent survey of 243 Compaq and Hewlett-Packard corporate end users to determine their views of the proposed HP-Compaq merger. This survey was not conducted on behalf of any corporation, organization, fund, brokerage firm, director, stockholder or individual.
Although customers favoring the merger ran higher than those against (29.6% in favor versus 24.3% against) the largest percentage, 46.1%, remained undecided as respondents granted the proposed merger "the benefit of the doubt".
Other survey results were more pronounced. In contrast to the much-publicized negative views of the merger from some quarters, Compaq and HP customers appear to be far less concerned with the impact of a merger to their IT departments. When asked if the merger would have any impact on their IT organization 59.7% indicated they would experience a zero or a positive impact. Only 9.5% of the respondents felt there would be a negative impact while 30.9% were undecided.
When customers were asked if they believed the post-merger management team could successfully complete the merger, 48.6% answered yes and 33.7% were undecided. 17.7% did not believe the team could succeed.
Customers were also queried to determine if a successful merger would force them to consider switching vendors. While 14.4% indicated they "would consider" switching vendors, an overwhelming 66.3% said no and 19.3% were undecided. This "switch rate" falls within that rate found in TBR's quarterly customer satisfaction surveys, suggesting the merger is of marginal impact on the decision to switch.
Clearly a substantial segment of the IT community, in general, has adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude regarding the proposed merger. Although 24.3% of the respondents were against the proposed merger, a much smaller number (9.5%) currently believe their IT organization would experience a negative impact should the merger occur. Given the merger's much touted uncertainty and FUD spread by competitors, this is a small number. Of even greater significance are the 66.3% of respondents who indicated they would not consider a vendor switch, suggesting the cost of a switch far outweighed the risks associated with the proposed merger.
Still, with so many respondents undecided post-merger execution excellence across the board remains the single most important factor affecting customer retention.
The surveys were conducted with IT managers in more than 243 large U.S. companies identified as Compaq and/or Hewlett-Packard customers. The respondent group represented an installed base of over 1 million desktop systems, 266,800 notebooks and 66,600 servers and an "intent to purchase" 271,000 systems during the next six months. |
