The IT Sector Branding evolved in the fast moving consumer goods industries, where substantial profits accrue when the consumer can identify himself with the source or origin of the goods. Branding in the service industry took a different path, where the service delivered was not tangible. As such, the focus shifted to the brand itself, which encompasses much more than just the product.

One usually thinks of branding in the context of consumers. In the IT sector, we have a B2B context. The environment is different, but the goals are the same. A successful company must be easily recognized by its customers and must have a good reputation. “IntelliNet offers telecom software products and services to the world’s leading telecom equipment vendors. Our track record is our calling card,” says Anjan Ghosal, CEO, IntelliNet
Brands are now treated as strategic assets in their own right by many firms, and brand valuation is a rapidly emerging business. As technology became commoditized, it became harder and harder for the consumer to distinguish between brands as well as for brands that position themselves based on technology. The accelerating and turbulent nature of technological change poses problems for those trying to establish, develop, and manage their brands. The technology-based companies are faced with perpetual change, and on the surface this appears to go against the very basics of branding, which includes consistency of the quality or goods or services marketed under the brand name. So, one of the dilemmas for tech companies is how to balance the two. The cautious nature of consumer decision-making with regard to technology products is a big challenge. A good brand will help overcome these problems by the virtue of trust and a reliable track record which in turn are the elements to good brand building.

Branding is extremely important in the light of today’s economic conditions, when IT budgets are being squeezed even further. It’s important to build and establish a brand that communicates strong value (quality, customer satisfaction, safety, etc.), no matter the product price point. “Taking a look at the name ‘Solidcore’ we wanted to leave no doubt about the integrity of the products. ‘Solid’ conveys a message of bulletproof engineering, and ‘core’ shows we are focused on the essential elements of the IT infrastructure and those at the heart of improving IT operations and security,” elucidates Rosen Sharma, Founder and CTO, Solidcore.

Technology companies are venturing into branding in a significant way. As if product proliferation and life cycle decompression were not enough, technology companies now find themselves surrounded by collapsing market boundaries, driven by the convergence of technologies. Companies can leap industries by simply acquiring the necessary technology, and where companies thought they understood the nature of the competition, they can be astonished by how quickly things can change. For IT services players, brand has become an important issue, services players rely on intangibles like people, trust, ideas, and solutions - not the hard, perceivable facts inherent in products and boxes. Because services are intangible, the question of who to buy from is a more and emotive and irrational criterion than if they are buying a product.

“Technology purchases are more than just the purchase of a good – they are the beginning of a relationship between the customer and the vendor. This interconnectedness means that the customer is implicitly assuming that the vendor will continue to perform well over the years, will continue to keep its products relevant, and will step in and address issues quickly. A lot of this cannot be spelled out in a contract. The customer must rely on the vendor’s reputation, their ‘brand’ – they are betting that the vendor values their brand and will go to great lengths to protect it and keep it strong,” says Jai Shekhawat, CEO, Fieldglass.