When the client is not right: By what customers of the IT company are horrified

"Non-payer"

Payment delays for the rendered services or the delivered products were the most popular problem which respondents of TAdviser of the IT company face, perhaps. At the same time the situation with payment discipline of customers worsens, the CEO of Onlanta company (enters into Lanit Group) Sergey Taran notes. According to him, at Onlanta receivables are 10-20% of annual revenues that for the company very noticeably: "In fact, an annual bank interest from this amount are our real loss", he says.

Payment delays are quite often used as the lever of pressure upon the contractor with the purpose to impose the conditions which are not reflected in the agreement. For example, the customer suggests the contractor to think of reduction in cost of services and ceases to pay. Sometimes suggest to perform some works free of charge in the mode of "community work day". Almost always in such situation we have bases to take legal action and to receive the earned money, but we understand that we will spoil the relations with the customer what it would not be desirable, - Sergey Taran tells TAdviser.

He added that cases when the payment delay is explained by loss of the documents transferred to payment or load of personnel which do not manage to process papers became frequent.

The director of work with regional corporate clients of Softline Alexey Butakov notes that the financial discipline at some customers suffers because of a difficult situation in economy. Payment is not always carried out timely, and it increases receivables at the IT companies, can become the reason of shifts of the terms connected with supply of equipment and software and accomplishment of these or those works. In turn, it creates additional reasons for neopayments, he says.

Of course, It should be noted that during the periods of deterioration in an economic situation of power for acceptance of finance solutions "rise" up, financial services have a greater influence on financial conditions of IT projects. Not all IT companies consider it, remaining when implementing projects within IT departments that aggravates a situation even more, - Alexey Butakov argues.

With some customers the gap between implementation of the tasks and financial settlement with contractors happens because of imperfection of laws and rules of internal and/or external financing, believe in Jet Infosystems companies.

In such cases IT contractors act also as self-creditors, executing the project many months and even years, and compensating only those parts which the diagram in the system of financing of the customer allows. At the same time there is a risk that the multi-stage project will be frozen while the implemented volume already significantly exceeds really paid works, - Andrey Shaposhnikov, the associate director of the Technical center of Jet Infosystems company says.

"Mysterious"

One more problem category – customers with the indefinite or changing already during the project purposes, tasks and requirements. By experience of Ascon Integration, for example, about 90% of projects have no on start of the set measurable purposes, the director of the company Anatoly Gurevich says.

Formally the purposes are registered: creation of a common information space of the enterprise, creation of a transparent management system, automation of any process. From such purposes there are also disagreements what to consider a transparent system or unified information environment and at what moment the transparency and unity is reached. Disagreements result in deficit of personnel resources in the project, to tightening of terms, project value addition, - the director of Ascon Integration explains.

Happens so that problem definition indistinct, and terms, the budget and penalties at the same time specific, Alexey Kuzin, the sales and marketing director (commercial director) of I-Teco company notes. He illustrates the thesis a conditional example:

The customer says: "Build to me the house that everything was beautiful. The budget - 100 million rubles, will drive to the house on December 30. If you are not in time, then a penalty - 10% of the cost of the contract a day. The house was built, we do finishing finishing. The customer comes, looks at the house and says: "The main building is pleasant, and an extension ugly. Demolish an extension and construction another, make it beautiful". Same budget, term of entrance to the same house, same penalties. In this case the task – that "make it to me beautifully" – is not formalized, - Kuzin says.

Alexey Kuzin gives the client who, for example, initially wanted to construct an oil storage as one more illustration of the customer who can be carried to this type. He employed the contractor and in the course of construction of a warehouse realized that it will suit the tanker more. In the middle of the project corrected terms of reference with the purpose to construct the tanker within the project, the representative of I-Teco argues.

"Immense"

In separate category, perhaps, it is possible to select customers with the amount of works which is not determined precisely though somewhat it has something in common with the previous type of clients. Mark Shtilkind from SAP CIS otmecht that the contractor and the customer can have absolutely different understanding that enters and that does not enter amount of works.

One of situations when amounts of works are indistinct, is absence at the customer of time or an opportunity to make full terms of reference – due to the lack of narrow technology competences, Andrey Shaposhnikov from Jet Infosystems believes. "white spots" which contractors are forced to estimate financially only from height of the experience are as a result formed and to put many risks in this cost, he says.

Separate subject – the stated and actual amounts of works, transferred in the IT and outsourcing contract to the contractor, Sergey Taran from Onlanta noted in a conversation with TAdviser. The customer at a stage of tender provides the underestimated statistics on future amounts of works. It does not pass in a public sector, and for commercial structures – widespread practice. As a result, the contractor, having started project implementation, it appears in a situation when it is forced to terminate the agreement, and these are losses, Taran explains.

According to us, discrepancies in amounts of works happen when procurement is conducted by upper managers including IT heads at whom as the main KPI it is set economy of the budget and agreement performance goes down in IT service. Here also the conflicts begin: systems do not work, the heads who conducted procurement accuse the contractor for event of default, and the IT service – for inability to work with the outsourcer, - the CEO of Onlanta explains.

Sergey Taran cites an interaction case with large retail network on rendering IT support in regions as an example.

Based on proposals of our regional partners we created the offer on tender. When upon it turned out that amounts of works are higher, than the customer formulated, partners refused to work for the designated money. We replaced them with others, cheaper. Because of it the quality of service fell. Further – chain reaction: discontent of the customer with service, disappointment in IT outsourcing, etc. As a result we left the project with losses. But the main thing – the customer did not draw conclusions. He held a new competition in which he underestimated everything even more and confused. Judging from the fact that the selected contractors do not receive payment for the work for 3 months, probably such approach does not help business development of the customer, - rasskazyvvat the Ram.

"Refusenik"

One more widespread problem case when the customer refuses to accept results of works for various reasons. Mark Shtilkind, the associate director of department of project implementation of SAP CIS, notes that the contractor can think within contract commitments, and for the customer there is a risk to remain "in private with a system".

It is interesting that on the same incident, for example, within testing, there can be opposite opinions. For the contractor - "Everything works!", for the customer - "We so cannot work!", - the representative of SAP CIS says.

It is one of the possible reasons. Failure to accept works can be connected also with desire of the customer to wait a little with payments what it was told above about. Sergey Taran from Onlanta notes that cases when work is not taken over for the far-fetched reasons became frequent. It concerns both the commercial sector, and state, he says.

"Insufficiently involved"

Not only the contractor, but also the customer is responsible for implementation, Mark Shtilkind from SAP CIS notes. From that, how competently the customer participated in the project - formulated requirements, tested, prepared data, etc. - the quality of implementation depends. The innuendo in the contract, existence of gray zones with loose responsibility can become a source of serious problems, Shtilkind says.

Sometimes in the organizations it is difficult to put the project in motion because from their party there are no uniform driving force and supervisory center, the head of industry sales of the Kontur.Diadok project of SKB Kontur company Anton Prokopyev "Kontur.Diadok" considers.

Therefore employees act separately, neskoordinirovanno or at all do not act. There is no specific person who is responsible for project implementation. It is interesting what often so occurs when the bill is already paid, - Prokopyev adds.

The Asteros company which headed for complex infrastructure projects with a big share of engineering and construction works notes that in construction cases quite often main problem consists in lack of the personal involvement at average management on client side.

"Resisting"

Resistance to changes from the customer's employees – one more of the existing problems. In SKB Kontur cite as an example a similar situation at implementation of e-document flow.

It is difficult for conservative people to refuse a system within which they worked not one decade. Especially, if nobody asked them when the decision on transition to e-document flow was made. Therefore when the project starts, there is an internal sabotage at the level of contractors. We periodically face such accountants, - Anton Prokopyev from "Kontur.Diadok" tells.

"Chief information officer far from business"

Still at many DITOV the zone of interests and influence is limited only to IT kitchen. They are in a role of contractors of the tasks lowered "on top" on IT services, do not offer business of an innovation and development on the basis of IT technologies, are not able to prove IT projects so that they were clear to business, Alexey Butakov from Softline considers. In a sense this heritage of the past: generally directors of information technology left IT, but not business, he believes.

In the conditions of deterioration in an economic situation budgets are reduced and "climb" a managerial vertical of the companies. Remain time of IT service only with the tasks connected with service of already available infrastructure and cost reduction. The IT companies are forced to conduct direct dialogue with business that not in all industries business well perceives, - Butakov argues.

Exception, according to him, are those industries where business relies on IT, for example, banking sector. In exceptions it is possible to carry and "those few companies where bipolar management model of IT is implemented in this or that type", the representative of Softline added.

Other problems

In addition to the most burning issues participants of IT market called TAdviser a number of the various difficulties arising during customer interaction. In the answers the IT companies emphasized that difficulties face not always because of only one party, sometimes the parties just lack mutual understanding. Also the opinion was expressed that the specific IT project, but not the customer can be problem.

Among other problems with customers which nazyat the IT companies:

• Happens that the client is sure that he can make a part of work itself, quicker and better and at the same time also to save: for example, some completions at integration. Sometimes it really makes sense, but often it turns out that it revaluates itself(himself);
• Tightening of terms of works. The contractor is more focused on project work, with accurately expressed result and in the set terms. For the customer it can be long process, at the same time terms can be not important at all;
• The contractor is more focused on technical aspect and badly understands how business is arranged that it is necessary in terms of core business;
• Excessively high priority of cost for the sake of what customers occasionally close eyes to quality;
• Different vision of project objectives at the customer and the contractor. For example, for the contractor it can be the next system implementation, and for the customer it is the most important program of transformation;
• Lack of support of the top management;
• Import substitution at any cost;
• Transfer of large volume on a pre-sale stage. It increases risks of the contractor that the customer will refuse to sign the contract or it will change an environment.

To be fair, It is necessary to tell, as customers have questions to contractors. Separate material of TAdviser will be devoted to it.

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