1. IBM System x Consistently
Meets High Customer
Expectations for Product
and Service & Support
A Retrospective Analysis of IBM x86-based
Server Customer Satisfaction
May2011
TBR
T EC H N O LO G Y B U S I N ES S R ES E AR C H , I N C .

2. IBM System x Exhibits Strong Aptitude for Meeting
Customer Expectations
Executive Summary
Because thex86 serverhas become the dominant computing platform
in the datacenter, businesses demand high levels of product and
service and support service quality from their server partners. IBM
System x servers, as measured by TBR’s quarterlyx86-based Servers:
Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction study,meet
those needs by providing consistently high levels of hardware
reliability, phone support as well as delivery times for new systems.
IBM System x has long been recognized by customers for strong
products and quality service. TBR believes that customers are rating
IBM on what they see as itsparticular mix of product reliability and
quality and service excellence, resulting in a feeling of overall value
with high levels of satisfaction with System x servers. IBM’s System x
has held the number-one ranking in TBR’s x86 server study for the last
seven quarters as a result. The System x server line’s dominance in the
TBR study during this timeframe is illustrated in the 16 incidences of
competitive strength across six of the study’s satisfaction categories.
TBR assigns competitive strengths when a vendor demonstrates brand
differentiation by scoring substantially above industry averages and
more effectively meeting—or exceeding—customer expectations.
TBR x86-BASED SERVER SATISFACTION
PERFORM ANCE DIFFERENTIATION,
Past 7 Reporting Periods (3Q09 through 1Q11)
Sources: TBR x86-based Servers: Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction Studies
# Incidences Where TBR Assigned Competitive Strengths or
18
16
14 Phone Support, 3
12 Delivery Time, 3
10
M anagement Tools, 2
8
Warnings/ Weaknesses
Energy Efficiency, 2
6 Virtualization
4 Solutions, 3
2 Hardw are
0 Reliability, 3
M anagement Tools, -2 Delivery Time, -2
-2
-4 Phone Support, -3
-6
-8
-10
-12
-14
Dell HP IBM
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3. For this paper, TBR analyzed IBM’s competitive performance over the
past sevenquarters within our Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer
Satisfaction Studies in the x86-based server market. With this
retrospective analysis, TBR zeroed in on the evidence that supports
IBM’s continued ability to successfully meet customer expectations for
System x server quality, reliability and technical support.
TBR has determined that IBM’s continually strong performance in our
study can be tied to the interrelated effects of four underlying
principles:
1. Leading performance, reliability and efficiency:When compared to
its counterparts in servers, Dell and HP, IBM consistentlydelivers
higher marks in customer satisfaction for hardware quality and
reliability, services and support and energy efficiency – areas of key
concern for x86 server customers both now and in the future as
workloads within the data center increase.
2. Consistency and stability of support:Customers have also
consistently rated IBM’s phone support highly despite the ups and
downs of the economy. IBM phone support consistently scored
highly throughout the economic downturn in 2009, when many
customers kept their servers for longer than expected, and also in
the exuberance period that followed in 2010 as companies replaced
their servers en masse. Now, as customer satisfaction rates have
returned to more normal patterns, IBM continues to retain
leadership in this and many othercategories.
3. Continuing to meet high customer expectations:System x’s
consistent performance in meeting customer expectations over the
past several quarters has led to increased expectations from its
customers – setting the bar even higher for IBM. But despite having
higher expectations than its rivals, IBM has continued to meet or
exceed in most satisfaction categories in TBR’s study.
4. Server value:TBR believes that IBM’s innovations around areas such
as memory capacity, server performance and virtualization is driving
an ROI message that resonates with businesses – illustrated by
higher-than-average customer server value satisfaction ratings over
the past few quarters.
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4. The path to Customer Satisfaction
Over time, IBM has proven to be less susceptible to the recent ups and downs of overall
customer satisfaction during period between the recession of 2009 – a time during whichaging
server hardware was kept in service – and the significant upswing in server purchasing and
customer satisfaction that followed in 2010. In 1Q11, as a period of normality returned to the
industry and the exuberance of the previous year faded away, IBM took advantage of its
foundation of satisfaction created in the previous quarters, while continuing to meet or exceed
customer expectations, placing it ahead of Dell and HP in overall satisfaction in TBR’s 1Q11
server report.
In addition, 1Q11 results set the stage for continued success for IBM in the coming quarters,
with another round of purchasing expected on the heels of new server processor releases by
Intel. TBR anticipates an upswing in customer satisfaction as IBM, Dell and HP roll out new
systems based on the processor platforms. IBM’s consistency over the past six quarters bodes
well for its performance in coming quarters, as participants in TBR’s study indicate intent to buy
hundreds of x86 based servers – 125 each, on average – over the next 12
months.
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5. IBM Breeds Performance, Reliability and Efficiency
IBM outpaced its rivals in 1Q11 and the preceding five reporting periods
by earning competitive strengths in hardware quality and reliability.
Businesses are working to navigate a rapidly changing datacenter
environment – with memory limitations, increasing complexities, and
growing mission-critical workloads – and an environment in which IT
budgets are flat, forcing IT staffs to increase the services they offer
despite restrained resources.At the same time, x86 server users – the
company divisions or lines of business that do the work – are
seekingtechnologies and services that enable them to address the
demands of specific workloads, ease the crunch of both limited
resources and increasing complexity, and provide help as needed.TBR’s
customer satisfaction study also has consistently found that energy
efficiency, an adjunct to decreased power and cooling costs for the
datacenters, is rising in importance. Energy efficiency and virtualization
are areas where IBM has historically scored well. At the same time,
companies are moving mission-critical workloads onto their x86 systems
and seek simplified deployment through
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6. virtualization.
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7. IBM Has Built a Foundation of
Consistency and Stability
IBM has maintained a level of consistency
that has enabled it to continue
differentiating from rivals. Despite
changes in the overall market, IBM has
minimized changes in customer
satisfaction, both during the dramatic
cutback in IT spending during the
economic turmoil of 2009, and during the
enthusiastic buying spree that followed.
Since mid-2010, server purchasing plans
have settled into a more usual pattern of
sustained spending.
The exuberance of the post-recession
hardware spending spree has ebbed to a
more practical tone and, along with that
change; customer satisfaction levels with
all three vendors have receded.Yet IBM’s
consistency, driven by phone support,
hardware reliability and server delivery
times, has kept System x on a level track.
IBM earned the overall top position in
TBR’s 1Q11 x86 Server report as its
customer satisfaction rating jumped for
the second consecutive quarter –
outpacing HP and Dell.
IBM scored its third consecutive
competitive strength for high customer
satisfaction related to on-time delivery.
On-time delivery was less important than
it was during the exuberant buying period
in 2010,but the metric remained key to
x86 system users. IBM’s consistency in this
area position it well to meet increasing
customer demand for on-time delivery in
coming quarters as new iterations of its
System x servers arrive.
Finally IBM continued to lead its two
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8. competitors in the area of server value in 1Q11. TBR believes that businesses sought lower TCO when
replacing their servers in 2010, and will continue to do so in 2011. While refreshed portfolios from IBM,
Dell and HP portend more spending, most respondents in TBR’s 1Q11 report said they would keep their
2011 technology spending at 2010 levels. That puts server value solidly on IT departments’ checklists,
which is an advantage for IBM, which scored significantly higher than its
competitors.
Despite High Customer Expectations, IBM Consistently Meets or Exceeds on Satisfaction
IBM’s high scores have raised the expectations of its customers, who have grown accustomed to a highly
positive experience in dealing with the company. IBM, over the past several quarters, has successfully
met those expectations in almost every area within the TBR study, and 1Q11 was no different. TBR
tabulates its Weighted Satisfaction Index (WSI) rating through an examination of customer expectations
and the vendor’s ability to meet those expectations. High expectations that haven’t been effectively met
(i.e., low or moderate satisfaction) can negatively impact the score calculation. Alternatively, a high-
expectation category with high satisfaction means an advantage for the vendor. In 1Q11, IBM was
awarded competitive strengths in phone support and on-time delivery and its WSI position held steady,
illustrating continued dominance over competition.
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9. IBM’s Customer Satisfaction Success is in the Ability to Meet the
Right Expectations at the Right Time
TBR believes that IBM’s continued success in our customer satisfaction
study comes from its ability to understand customer needs and
expectations and meet or exceed them. During the recession of 2009,
when much of IT spending was cut back dramatically, IBM met customer
demands at a much higher rate than its competitors thanks in part to its
phone support.
IBM was well-positioned when the market turned around and corporate IT
spending increased in 2010, meeting expectations with its fifth-generation
X-Architecture and the services built around it, by leveraging factors
including performance, efficiency and delivery times.
As spending patterns returned to normal in 4Q10 and 1Q11 and
companies put their new servers into use, IBM has seen its customer
satisfaction increase in such categories as phone support and on-time
product delivery – areas of competitive strength for the company – as well
as server value.TBR believes that IBM will continue along this path with
consistent delivery of phone support, server performance and relative
value even as new challenges will rear up in late 2011 and early 2012.
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10. About the Studies
TBR’s ongoing Corporate IT Buying Behavior & Customer Satisfaction
Studies (published in four separate volumes each quarter covering
Desktops, Notebooks, x86-based Servers and Service & Support) have been
conducted since the first quarter of 1997. For vendors, distributors, large
end-users and the investment community, this program has become the
preeminent tactical tool for monitoring customer satisfaction from quarter
to quarter.
The 1Q11 study, published in May 2011, was based on the view of 499 x86
server decision-makers at midsized and large corporations in the United
States and Canada, representing a total installed base of about 270,000
x86-based servers and purchase intent of 62,000 units during the next 12
months.
About TBR
TBR specializes in providing in-depth and timely insights within the
computer, software, telecom, mobility and professional services industries.
These critical insights can provide value to all levels of your organization:
Executive, sales, marketing, product and business development, finance,
procurement, and others. We deliver this intelligence in a format that is
uniquely responsive and tailored to your needs, and we do so as an
objective source, which allows you to look at the market from a fresh,
impartial perspective.
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