Businesses want to see stronger inclusive and ESG commitments when choosing their vendor partners, according to a new report.
According to a survey by B2B PR firm CCGroup, two-thirds of UK organisations want to see a vendor’s sustainability policy as part of their technology buying process, and more than half request robust DE&I policies.
Alongside this, the survey of over 200 British technology decision-makers found that enterprises are spending money on new technologies despite the economic climate.
The report found that over the past 12 months, enterprises have made an average of five major technology purchases, with a typical ticket price of just over a quarter of a million (£270,000).
The market isn’t slowing, either. Over a third (33%) of firms prioritise increased sales, and the same percentage plan to grow via new business areas and geographies. Firms are looking to new technologies to aid this.
Under half of those surveyed (47%) said that a top deciding factor for purchasing new technology is to see an increase in revenue.
In addition, organisations are also looking to such investments to keep up with technological advances (42%) and increase efficiencies (42%).
Almost three-quarters of firms have AI at the top of their list to buy, alongside automation at nearly 70%, and the same is true for private networks.
“Against a challenging macroeconomic environment, enterprise buyers are being much more considered when making technology purchasing decisions,” said Chloe Pope, head of next-gen connectivity at CCGroup.
“Reputation, sustainability efforts and DE&I policies are major factors that contribute to selection vendor partners,” she adds. “Successful vendors not only need to showcase their market leadership and technology innovation, they need to clearly outline their business goals and workplace cultures too.”
To do this, the survey finds that enterprises are using a wide range of marketing channels to make decisions on their vendor.
It found that the most influential channels are industry analysts (over 70%), business technology media (67%), and management consultants (67%).
Equally, live events, trade media and peers are ranked as important (67%).
“It’s essential for technology vendors to have fully integrated marketing programmes in place to ensure they aren’t missing out on RFP opportunities,” Pope concludes.
