Enterprise Hardware : High-End Servers

The high-end servers segment is amongst the few segments where the last

year's winner has been dethroned. This year, HP has taken over the throne from

IBM and that too with a very wide margin, on the basis of Users' Choice Club

score. On the other hand, other major players like Dell and Sun manage to retain

their positions in the Users' Choice league for this category.

The industry verticals are mostly dominated by HP, process manufacturing

being the only exception to this, which is dominated by IBM. HP has overtaken

IBM in BFSI, IT/ITeS, communication media and services verticals which were IBM

dominated till last year.

Users' Choice Club 2010

HP has taken over the throne from IBM with a very wide margin. Dell and Sun manage to retain their 2009 positions..

Future Brand Preference Reasons

Reliability of product and initial price are two prime reasons why the two brands lead here.

IT/ITeS vertical is the one where Dell again contributes significantly enough

to make it the 3rd most preferred brand in the segment. Sun is the most dominant

in process manufacturing as compared to other verticals. The geographical index

scores favor HP for north and west zones, and IBM for south and east zones. Dell

and HCL contribute significantly in the south zone.

Brand Loyalty 2010 vs 2009

IBM enjoys the highest brand loyalty among all brands, followed by Dell and HP. Sun has the lowest brand loyalty.

The major reasons for future brand preference for the top 2 brands remain the

same, i.e, reliability of product and the initial price of the product. Though

IBM scores more than HP on after sales support/service grounds, the figures

still leave a room for improvement to enhance further the overall brand image.

When it comes to brand loyalty, IBM has the most loyal set of users amongst

the winners with brand loyalty of 87%, followed by Dell with 82% and HP is

positioned 3rd with 75% brand loyalty. IBM is again expected to gain from 9%

Dell and 7% Sun owners. A significant 36% Sun owners are not sure about future

brand preference which can be the major concern for Sun in the near future.