While Oracle pitches Fusion, customers want better support for current applications

In the run up to Oracle Open World, Computer Economics started to survey Oracle customers in an effort to assess perceptions of Oracle support and to gain insights into when customers might consider moving to Fusion.

Frank Scavo, president Computer Economics and Strativa shared early results with me this morning. He is of the opinion the results are a fair reflection of what customers are saying in back channels. Based on my own experience, the results seem in the right ball park. Early highlights:

• Almost half of the E-Business Suite customers (48%) expressed dis-satisfaction with the quality of support with lack of first call resolution highlighted as an issue.
• 63% of E-Business Suite customers say the program costs too much
• Despite dis-satisfaction, three quarters say that three years from now, Oracle will have the same or more of their IT budget.
• Only 25% E-Business Suite and PeopleSoft customers are considering Fusion applications although Frank expects the number to improve.

The survey is still open and can be found here.

I am not surprised at these results. SAP customers express similar problems. What is truly worrying though is that with both Oracle and SAP relying so heavily upon maintenance revenue, one has to wonder how long both companies can continue delivering below par service while expecting customers to continue cutting checks. The survey results suggest otherwise but then the market seems to be easing with IT shops spending more, albeit cautiously.