Mainframe Infrastructure | Market, Trends, Growth | Suppliers Analysis

Strategic Sourcing Guide to Mainframe Infrastructure Procurement

Overview

Several macro changes in the dynamics of overall Specialist Software and Hardware as well as Mainframe Infrastructure procurement trends are poised to change the business practices and procurement thumb rules. Global market is facing a shortage of professionals with requisite skills and training. Minimum wages and stringent regulations are compelling suppliers to increase their employee expenses which are expected to have an inflationary impact on buyer's procurement cost.

The supply market has undergone several structural changes including introduction of several new vendors every year, M&As and vertical integration efforts of suppliers. This has resulted in some issues such as erosion of previously established supplier relationships but has also opened new opportunities to onboard new suppliers that offer a solution with better fitment or a wider range of offerings in .

Rise in the cost of certain essential assets and supplies required to deliver Mainframe Infrastructure is making a significant addition to the supplier's overall expenditure. This could have an inflationary impact on buyer's procurement expenditure in the Mainframe Infrastructure market.

Category managers need to take note of the potential of these developments and reassess the changes required in their procurement practices.

Mainframe Infrastructure Procurement Best Practices

It has become imperative for category managers to remain as agile as possible in terms of their procurement practices. However, it is not always easy to quickly spot and implement alternative practices in a category like Mainframe Infrastructure. To help quick decision making, this report advises on several procurement best practices that have worked well for category managers.

For example, Buyers should ask for a detailed account of the data protection capabilities of the supplier. In addition, buyers should also enquire regarding the redundancies available during instances of outages or disruptions. While some providers can provide backup, others may have limited capabilities in hardware redundancy.

Category managers must explore opportunities to integrate planning and management activities using analytics to gain better control over category spend. This will also allow them to consolidate supply base easily as well as segment service providers depending on requirements and spend on each service provider.

Transferring to a new supplier can be often costly and can further get exacerbated by instances of vendor lock-ins. Buyers must scrutinize the offerings of service providers for any possibilities of vendor lock-ins and demand client testimonials from service providers to assess such possibilities. Watch out for products/services that are priced excessively low, as they can often result in costly lock-ins.

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Risks in Mainframe Infrastructure procurement

Mainframe Infrastructure procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Mainframe Infrastructure procurement. Some examples include:

Natural disasters can sometimes impact the entire industry to a significant extent and disrupt supply chains. For example, during the floods that ravaged Thailand in 2011, many electronic manufacturing facilities were flooded and the prices of peripherals shot up by more than 100%
Suppliers may face a situation where they are unable to honor a contract in its entirety due to shortage of resources, finances or capabilities. While contractual terms safeguard buyers from the non-performance, their operations could still face massive disruptions due to suppliers' non-performance
When requirements of the buyers are not absolutely clear or usage patterns are not stable or predictable, suppliers often build in \"cost buffers\" for unforeseen risks due to a lack of complete understanding on buyer's requirements. This increases the risk of overspending on Mainframe Infrastructure

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Who should read this report

The report is intended to serve as a one-stop reference guide for Mainframe Infrastructure procurement strategy and offers a perfect blend of category basics with deep-dive category data and insights. Therefore, it is ideal for category beginners looking for “Mainframe Infrastructure: Procurement Report 101” as well as for category experts actively tracking the global Mainframe Infrastructure procurement market.

You may have just initiated your research to design a winning Mainframe Infrastructure procurement strategy, or you may be a category expert looking for strategic insights and updated data.Either ways, the report has your requirements covered.

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Key questions on Mainframe Infrastructure procurement answered by this report

Procurement decisions can prove to be costly in the absence of careful deliberation and evaluation of every available option. In fact, more than 90% of the decision makers we work with acknowledge that timely availability of up-to-date category intelligence can help them make better purchasing decisions. More than 80% of them believe that in-house category intelligence needs to be updated periodically to achieve full benefits. If you have read so far, we are quite sure you agree!!

The Mainframe Infrastructure procurement report helps take more informed decisions by placing all the critical information and advice at the fingertips of a decision maker. It also specifically answers some of the key questions that we have been routinely asked during our industry outreach initiatives:

What is the spend potential in the Mainframe Infrastructure market?
What is the correct price to pay for Mainframe Infrastructure? What are the key trends and factors that influence current and future pricing?
Which selection criteria are the most important for Mainframe Infrastructure Suppliers Market?
Who are the top Mainframe Infrastructure suppliers? What are their cost structures?
Which negotiation levers can reduce Mainframe Infrastructure procurement cost ?
What are supplier margins in Mainframe Infrastructure market?
What are the best practices for Mainframe Infrastructure procurement and what are the potential risks?

SpendEdge Insights has helped procurement professionals and sourcing teams manage multiple spend areas and achieve more than $2 billion in savings. Activate your free account today!

Mainframe Infrastructure Category Insights: What is inside

The Mainframe Infrastructure market report offers a complete picture of the supply market and analyzes the category from the perspective of both buyers and suppliers. Analysis of the category trends, procurement best practices, negotiation levers and overall category management strategy advisory are interspersed with in-depth data and commentary on spend outlook, pricing ecosystem and supplier landscape drilled down to a region-level coverage.

Data

A key highlight of this report is the in-depth outlook created on Mainframe Infrastructure procurement spend and pricing trends. The report further delves deep into the aspects of cost structure, total cost of ownership and supplier margins for Mainframe Infrastructure. A dedicated section to supplier profiles and evaluation helps decision makers cast a wider procurement net and identify gaps in existing relationships.

Insights

Along with specific category and supplier intelligence, the publication also includes curated insights on Mainframe Infrastructure market trends, price influencers and inherent risks. These insights help the decision makers prepare for market shaping trends in advance and create alternative strategies for changes in the market conditions.

Advisory

Additionally, the report also advises on the best practices and strategies to manage the Mainframe Infrastructure category efficiently. Negotiation levers and opportunities are explained in detail along with quantification of their potential. Benchmark KPIs for supplier and buyer performance management are also aggregated to better organize the category objectives. Other themes of advisory include ideal procurement organization structure, enablers to achieve KPIs or category objectives and ideal SLAs to have with suppliers.

Category Ecosystem

Buyer and supplier ecosystem
Competitiveness index
Buyer and supplier power
Threat of new entrants and substitutes

Global and Regional Sourcing Insights

Category spend
Spend growth
Dynamics
Opportunities

Pricing and Cost Analysis

Pricing outlook and data
Drivers of pricing
Cost structure and inputs cost
Total cost of ownership
Pricing models and margins

Cost Saving Opportunities & Negotiation Strategies

Buyer and supplier side levers
Quantified cost saving opportunities
Negotiation strategies and quantified outcome

Procurement Best Practices, Strategy and Enablers

Procurement excellence
Sustainability and innovation
KPIs and category enablers
Risk management and outsourcing

Vendor Analysis

RFx essentials and selection criteria
SLAs
Supplier evaluation metrics
Detailed supplier profiles

Our research is complex, but our reports are easy to digest. Quantitative analysis and exhaustive commentary is placed in an easy to read format that gives you an in-depth knowledge on the category without spending hours to figure out “what does it mean for my company?”

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Category Research Framework

SpendEdge presents a detailed picture of Mainframe Infrastructure procurement solutions by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The analysts have presented the various facets of the market with a particular focus on identifying the key category influencers. The data thus presented is comprehensive, reliable, and the result of extensive research, both primary and secondary.