Buyers looking to larger vendors

With IT budgets tight, most CIOs are consolidating purchases with larger vendors with strong brands and the ability to provide a variety of products and services, a survey has found.

The main beneficiary of this trend is IBM, followed by Dell Computer, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard, according to a survey of 100 CIOs conducted by the research department of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Eighty per cent of respondents said they are consolidating purchases with larger vendors, while 5 per cent said they were shifting purchases to smaller vendors. The remainder reported no change in their purchasing strategy. Areas in which respondents said they are spending more this year than originally planned are security, consulting and outsourcing. Respondents are spending less than planned this year on computer hardware, communications equipment and software.