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Citrix Survey Reveals What State and Local Governments Want Most from Their Technology Providers
Price, Service, and Responsiveness Ranked as Most Important Criteria, While Breadth of Solution Offerings Is Also Highly Valued
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla » 6/26/2006 » Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), the global leader in access infrastructure solutions, today announced the findings of its survey of state and local government Information Technology (IT) executives on IT purchasing trends and preferences. Survey respondents identified price, service, and response time as their most important IT purchasing decision criteria. They ranked “personal relationships with a sales representative” as only moderately important.
Forty-six percent of respondents named reseller/VARs as their primary source for IT purchases, followed by existing contractors (23 percent), manufacturers (16 percent), and technology-specific providers (15 percent). While technology breadth rated high on the priority list, with 48 percent of respondents stating they prefer to work with large resellers that offer a broad range of options, market depth also ranked as a priority, with 38 percent of respondents noting they prefer resellers with a specific state and local focus. Of interest, 38 percent of respondents characterize their IT providers as trusted partners, rather than mere product providers.
Looking beyond the channel for the delivery of IT solutions, state and local government officials also expressed preferences for specific vendor brands – especially with regard to software. Seventy-four percent of respondents stated that their reseller/VAR’s relationships with Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are very or somewhat important. In addition, when comparing various decision factors, more respondents ranked “previous experience with the reseller” (61 percent) as most important, than breadth of products (44 percent ranked most important) or variety of contract vehicles (39 percent ranked most important).
“State and local IT buyers are one-hundred percent focused on program performance,” said Bert Wakeley, director of State and Local Government for Citrix. “Their emphasis is on maximizing the value of the taxpayer’s dollar and deploying IT solutions that improve citizen services. The survey results point to an opportunity for IT providers to improve their relationships with state and local executives through deeper partnerships and continued high service levels.”
When asked to provide feedback on their own IT providers, state and local IT executives said they were most satisfied with product selection and service and responsiveness:
- Service and Responsiveness: 78 percent of state and local IT executives gave their IT providers an A or B
- Knowledge of My Needs: 75 percent gave their providers an A or B
- Training Provided: 54 percent gave their providers an A or B
- Procurement Support Provided: 67 percent gave their providers an A or B
- Product Selection: 80 percent gave their providers an A or B
“The survey results underline the market’s requirement for best-value, performance-tested solutions,” Wakeley added. “Buyers will not tolerate distractions. They are looking for reliable, easy-to-procure tools, enabling them to stay focused on their mission of supporting the business of state and local government.”
Recognizing that delivering strong value to government agencies requires close collaboration among vendors, solutions providers, and government officials, Citrix structured its State and Local Government Expert Partner Program to reward its reseller partners who have made a significant commitment to the state and local market and its unique customers. The Citrix State and Local Government Expert Partner Program provides valuable market, technology, and sales resources – from contract vehicles and training to market analyses and leads – that enable Citrix Solution Advisors to significantly improve the level of service being provided to government customers throughout the United States.
The online survey of 124 state and local government IT buyers in April 2006 has a margin of error of 6.75 percent with a 90 percent confidence rate.
About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CTXS) is the global leader and most trusted name in on-demand access. More than 180,000 organizations around the world rely on Citrix to provide the best possible access experience to any application for any user. Citrix customers include 100% of the Fortune 100 companies and 98% of the Fortune Global 500, as well as hundreds of thousands of small businesses and individuals. Citrix has approximately 6,200 channel and alliance partners in more than 100 countries. Citrix annual revenues in 2005 were $909 million. Learn more at http://www.citrix.com.
For Citrix Investors
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks associated with revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products, their development and distribution, product demand and pipeline, economic and competitive factors, the Company’s key strategic relationships, acquisition and related integration risks as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.
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