Selected B2Bi and EAI Contracting Survey Results...

Posted by Brad Loetz on Aug 17, 2009 9:42 AM


At the end of first quarter 2009, REMEDI administered an informal survey to integration and eCommerce leaders in various companies across many different vertical industries.

The results were interesting to say the least. The survey results confirmed assumptions in some areas, and enlightened us in others. The intent of this survey was to better understand attitudes and awareness surrounding integration and E-commerce from a contract services and recruiting/placement perspective.

I thought I would share some of the results for your analysis, to confirm your opinions or to prompt further thought about B2Bi/EAI contract services and your experiences. A summary of the results are as follows:

Selected Survey Results Summary and Conclusions...

Frequency Of B2Bi/EAI Contracting
- 33% of respondents have contracted for services 2-3 times in the past 18 months
- Just over 50% contracted services between 1 and 3 times

Typical Contracting Engagement Length (for those that utilize consultants)
- 66% of contracts run for more than 12 weeks
- 17% run between 4 and 12 weeks

On-site vs. Remote Engagements
- Approximately 33% of consultants are required to be on-site 100% of the time
- Approximately 51% are required to be on-site >5%, but less than 100%, of the time
- Roughly 17% are not required to be on-site to perform services

Primary Reasons Companies Contract For Services
- Consultants are used most often to supplement staff and work on projects
- Approximately 1/3 of contracts are for system installs or upgrades
- Consultants are used more sparingly for outsourcing, 17% of the time

Decision Factors When Hiring A Consulting Company
- Presented candidates' level of knowledge appears to be the most important factor in a contract decision, trumping even cost
- Company level of knowledge and reputation are the second most important
- Company size appears to be the least important factors of the seven provided

Factors Considered When Working With A B2Bi/EAI Consulting Company
- Ability of an organization's consultant to troubleshoot problems and their past experience were by far the most important
- Personality of the consultant and regular communication between the account manager and client appear to be the next most important

EDI/eCommerce Consulting Spend (for those that do so)
- > 33% of respondents spend > $100K every year
- 17% spend < $10K or less

Likelihood Of Considering Use Of Resources Located Offshore (for those not doing so already)
- 25% of respondents consider it likely they will consider some offshore resources
- 17% may or may not consider some offshore resources
- Approximately 50% consider it not likely or will not consider offshore resources

* Note: 42% of respondents claimed to be the decision maker regarding hiring consultants/associates, and 58% reported having influence over the decision.

Are the results similar to your experience in the operation of your integration group?

Advise with your thoughts concerning the survey and the summary of results provided.