Is marketing an OSS driver?

Marketing is now a fundamental driver of IT purchasing, and that trend shows no signs of stopping –or even slowing down –any time soon. In fact, Gartner analyst Laura McLellan recently predicted that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than their counterpart CIOs.”
Lisa Arthur
on Forbes.

According to Gartner’s research:

  • 2011 B2B and B2C marketing budgets as a percentage of revenue were almost three times as high (10 percent) as IT budgets (3.6 percent).
  • 2012 IT budgets are expected to grow 4.7 percent, while all marketing budgets, in general, are predicted to grow 9 percent, and high tech marketing budgets, more specifically, are expected to increase 11 percent.
  • On average, nearly one-third (30 percent) of named marketing-related technology and services is bought by marketing already. What’s more, marketing now influences almost half of all purchases.

In previous blogs, we’ve spoken about the need to look beyond network ops when planning and spruiking your OSS. If these predictions from Gartner prove to be true, this provides a fascinating perspective for those involved is the OSS industry.

Harnessing data is one of the key reasons for the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) to invest in IT and OSS can be one of the greatest sources of data for digital companies (ie those relying on digital and communications technologies for large chunks of their earnings). If project funding is coming from the marketing department, what are you doing to make your OSS more relevant to delivering upon their objectives?

How may of you have ever considered the marketing department as a key stakeholder / sponsor / influencer in your OSS projects (and/or product designs)? If you haven’t, does Gartner’s research make you feel more compelled to do so now?

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