Bain 2005 Tools Survey

Want to know what senior managers are thinking about technology and how to use it? Cut to the chase by reading the Bain & Company 2005 Management Tools & Trends Survey. Co-authored by Darrell Rigby and Barbara Bilodeau, this is the firm's 10th such survey in 12 years. with the current version compiling the views of 960 respondents.

In a case of "do as I say, not as I do", senior executives see long term success coming from their ability to innovate and use technology for competitive advantage -- particularly as a way to make customers happy. Short term, however, their instinct is to cut costs (including, presumably, IT costs).

So what's a tool vendor to do? Here's one conclusion I draw from the Bain report: The market for IT tools and services (like everything else) is not so much commoditzed as it is bifurcated. More than ever before, there is a place for the truly outstanding among us -- you just have to make sure your customers see you for what you are.