08 June 2006 | Paul Snell

IT communications suppliers are falling below the expectations of public-sector IT buyers, according to a survey by Kable.

The research firm interviewed 50 UK buyers and found telecoms was outperformed by software suppliers, equipment manufacturers, system providers, resellers and distributors in categories covering company reputation, interaction with clients and product and service quality.

On a scale of one to five, telecoms scored just above three for how they worked with clients.

Equipment manufacturers, the best performers in the survey, scored an average of just above four.

The study found that, despite their experience, the large equipment manufacturers are seen as more difficult to deal with and inflexible.

Overall, 98 per cent of the buyers expressed "some degree of satisfaction" with the product and service quality offered by their existing supplier.

Julian Herbert, head of market intelligence at Kable, said: "Perhaps standards are now sufficiently consistent that performance can be taken for granted."

The survey found that while performance and relationships between suppliers and buyers are "fundamentally sound", there is room for improvement.

One purchaser commented that buyers wanted suppliers to "provide solutions, rather than products".

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