Archive for ibm global services

Professional Services Websites Take 2 | New rules upset the rankings. A rising tide floats all boats, but Accenture.com is at the head of the flotilla

By Kenna Dian · Comments (0)
Thursday, January 5th, 2012

And the New Winner Is…

Overall: Accenture.com
Usability & Effectiveness: Accenture.com
Content, Features & Capabilities: Accenture.com

Last week, we took a close look at how classic professional services Websites fare when they are put under the siteIQ microscope–and made some pretty substantial changes in the ways these Websites are measured on the siteIQ benchmarks. The net result is a much slimmer benchmark that hones in on the unique ways these companies do business on the Web.

Since there’s no time like the present to see the impact of these changes, we put the three professional services Websites on the siteIQ eBusiness Index through this new evaluation model. Then we published the results in a new report.

So how did things change?

A lot.

First and foremost, Accenture.com moved from second to first place courtesy of very strong navigational, search, and services marketing scores. Services marketing now rates a Good Practice. As important, Accenture.com’s overall usability beats all comers.

IBM Global Services’ Website ended up in a reasonably close second place. It matches Accenture.com’s services marketing Good Practice, but took it on the chin in the navigation and search categories. Just goes to show you that paying attention to those pesky architecture and cross-site utilities can make a huge difference.

And how did Deloitte.com fare in a rising tide that floated all boats? Ho hum. It still ranks third and gained one star–but missed the Good Practice dock by a mile. This site’s best showing is in (yikes!) online recruiting. On the other hand, every services and corporate marketing category ranks third.

And what about the rest of 2012? We’re betting that IBM Global Services’ slow motion revamp will start to pay dividends by the end of this year. That means that Accenture.com shouldn’t rest on its laurels–and should pay close attention to the cult of personality strategy IBM.com is rolling out.

More scoring details, plus new rankings and ratings, are available in our new Professional Services Report. If you already own a copy of our earlier report, a new copy is on the way to your desktop. Library subscribers can pick up their copy here (you’ll need those pesky log in credentials). If you aren’t a subscriber you can learn more about The Library here.

 

 

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Categories : Design, eSelling, Marketing, Navigation, Search, Usability, Website Rankings
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Drum Roll, Please! IBM.com & Cisco.com head the eBusiness Index

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, July 5th, 2010

In 2010 we changed the rules of the game . . and interesting things happened

We’ve been evaluating and tracking leading IT Websites for about 15 years. Along the way, our best practices benchmarks have been updated every year to identify and track emerging Website requirements.

Once upon a time our benchmarks weighed in at about 700 criteria. Then Web 2.0, Web 3.0, communities, and social media sparked a Website revolution.

Click on the graph to view full size

This revolution triggered a wholesale audit of the siteIQ Benchmarks in January 2010 – resulting in a new siteIQ Benchmark that weighs in at a whopping 1,232 criteria. In simple terms, that’s 1,232 types of content, features & capabilities that need to be on your “got it” checklist – or on your 2010 drawing board.

Needless to say, when you change the rules of the game, interesting things happen.

  • IBM.com is the biggest Website – but Cisco.com’s stellar usability scores puts it on par with this mega monster.
  • HP.com ranks third overall. Its content, features & capabilities are roughly on par with IBM.com – but this site is much harder to use (ranks 9th out of 23 Websites).
  • Dell.com plays in the second string, along with CA.com. Dell.com provides more types of content, features & capabilities – but CA.com is far more usable. Case in point, Dell.com’s usability ranks 11th while CA.com’s usability ranks 3rd.

Related research: The eBusiness Index Report.  If you are a siteIQ client or subscriber, click here.

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Categories : Website Rankings
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Why IBM Software, SAS, EMC, Intel, Brocade & Deloitte made the cut

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Monday, February 1st, 2010

This week we started our Q1 evaluations of 23 Websites, plus additional sites selected by our clients for comparison.

We’ve mixed up the siteIQ eBusiness Index for 2010. In some cases the decision was based on eliminating Websites that haven’t improved over the past year and don’t provide any good or best practices worth tracking. In other cases, sites have fallen off our list because they don’t exist anymore. That would be EDS.com which was integrated into HP.com — and Sun.com which went off the airwaves last week.

In both cases, these sites are a loss to anyone who cares about good and great practices. Don’t bother to follow them to their new homes. Their presence inside of their new parent’s sites is nothing to write home about.

Here’s some more about the new sites added to our roster – and why we’re singing “auld lang syne” to others. (If you are a siteIQ client you can read more about what we expect from these and other leading sites in 2010 in our new executive brief in the siteIntelligence Research Center). Read More→

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Categories : Branding, Communities, Design, eSelling, POV (point of view), Strategy, Web 2.0
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Accenture, EDS and IBM Global Services | Who’s gaining, losing — and why

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (6)
Monday, March 24th, 2008

I’ve just finished an in-depth review of the Q4 2007 scores received by the professional services Websites on the siteIQ eBusiness Index (Accenture.com, EDS.com, Capgemini.com & IBM Global Services zone) – and it’s becoming clear that Web 2.0 is finally starting to take its toll on this industry segment. Although a rash of new video assets are notable on these sites, usability scores linked to these sites’ design & navigation are starting to slide. It’s a perceptive issue, to be sure, but one that illustrates that Web 2.0-centric behaviors observed at other IT sites (such as Cisco.com) are starting to set user expectations across the board. One look at these sites’ Web 2.0 behaviors underscores that these companies need to get a Web 2.0 strategy in place – and fast.

IBM Global Services got clobbered by siteIQ evaluators for an unruly site that makes it difficult for potential buyers to decipher one service offering from another.

Web 2.0 aside, other interesting findings jumped out this quarter.

IBM Global Services got clobbered by siteIQ evaluators for an unruly site that makes it difficult for potential buyers to decipher one service offering from another. As our senior evaluator Jeff Gaff aptly put it “eventually one can locate information, but it takes a bit of shuffling. Everything bounces back and forth so much that it becomes quite easy to get lost.” One of the culprits here appears to be the seemingly endless confusion between various services entities. In other words, building a site around organizational structures is still the fastest way to confuse and befuddle potential buyers.

In its final showing on the siteIQ eBusiness Index, Read More→

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Categories : Website Rankings
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Professional services marketing | It’s all about ME!

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (0)
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007

One look at professional services Website’s usability scores show that they’ve been losing ground in 2006.  That, of course, prompted us to ask the obvious question: why?  After spending some time on these sites, we found the answers. Put simply, “It’s all about me!” content behaviors and services marketing architectures that are as clear as mud are taking their toll on professional services sites’ overall effectiveness for visitors.

CapGemini and EDS provide plenty of press releases and 'thought leadership' articles, but nary a link that allows visitors to view services based on business issue or need

CapGemini and EDS provide plenty of press releases and 'thought leadership' articles, but nary a link that allows visitors to view services based on business issue or need

Not sure what we mean by “It’s all about me!” content behaviors? To see these sins in action, point your browser to the home pages of the corporate Websites operated by EDS and Capgemini, or take a look at the screenshots on the left. On these pages, you’ll find plenty of company press releases, news stories and “thought leadership” articles—but nary a link that allows visitors to find or view services based on their business issues or needs.

What’s more, IBM Global Services, which boasts a home page that allows visitors to navigate into the site based on business issue, industry or service type, presents an “IBM Global Business Services” page that ranks as the poster child for these behaviors and—dare we say it—would make Paris Hilton look shy (see the screenshots below). Read More→

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Categories : Marketing, Strategy
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