Comdisco moves from leasing to consulting

By ADAM GIFFORD

Financing more than $US15 billion ($33 billion) of IT equipment each year gives leasing group Comdisco a huge store of information about trends and markets.

It is now moving to sell that information direct to customers, using a web-enabled Information Technology Control and Predictability (IT CAP) service that it is to launch in New Zealand this week.

Australian managing director Dominic Corrigan said that while traditional IT research firms "can take the bird's eye view and say there's a point seven chance of something happening, we're betting our own money on our outcomes."

He said a lack of control and predictability over IT spending had a major impact on business productivity and competitiveness.

"There is a clear need in industry for chief information officers to have enough knowledge, data and capability to align technology to business, and to allow the technology to drive business rather than be reactive."

Mr Corrigan said Comdisco was targeting the service at medium to large companies with significant IT investments.

IT CAP captures and tracks IT spending, including assets, applications and services data via a host site.

Comdisco consultants will use that information, benchmarked against industry data from its sites worldwide, to prepare reports and have face-to-face sessions with company managers. A further service will allow users to go into the website for a deeper look at market IT spending, technology directions and management strategies.

Mr Corrigan said the site would be kept up to date with data and white papers generated internally and by other research firms such as Gartner Group.

It would also offer customised IT portfolio analysis, matching that with market data, and make recommendations for the better management of major projects.

Since coming to New Zealand two years ago, Comdisco has become the largest independent IT financier, with about 20,000 PCs and servers under contracts. Its customers include Air NZ, Telecom, Affco, Ford, the Health Funding Authority, the University of Auckland and the Auckland University of Technology.

Comdisco's general manager (sales) for Australia and New Zealand, Jay Howard, said the move into services was a response to significant changes in the leasing business.

Traditionally non-vendor leasing companies have had a clear idea of the value of a machine once its lease term is over, and it was leased elsewhere or sold.

He said the residual value of computer equipment was dropping and, while Comdisco would continue to have a strong remarketing arm, it had to seek other financial models and other ways of making its margins.

Comdisco recently sold its mainframes back to IBM, taking a $150 million setback in its projected earnings.

"We gave up the residual opportunity as a message to the market we are moving out of the residual-based area," Mr Howard said.

He said the new services would include vendor-neutral advice on a complete range of IT questions.

Unlike other consultants, Comdisco had the information about specific customers already in its system and could come back quickly with answers.

Mr Corrigan said that to survive in a vendor-based world for 30 years Comdisco had to provide direct value to customers.

"Our strength is not in our financial model, but in our understanding of the technology. There are thousands of examples where we have saved customers millions of dollars by knowing what is coming down the tube from vendor announcements, road maps and so on."