Gartner Research Analyst Dennis Gaughan recently gave a talk about the major IT vendors that has some great nuggets for the CIO trying to make sense of the tactics employed by IBM, SAP, Oracle and Microsoft.

A Forbes article did a great job of breaking down what Gaughan had to say. Some of the highlights:

IBM

“Their account managers are very good at influencing strategy, whereas a better relationship should be a ‘partner’ or ‘collaborative’ approach… Although IBM pitches itself as a thought leader with marketing campaigns such as ‘Smarter Planet’, the number one question is: how do you avoid being managed by IBM?”

Oracle

“Oracle is not looking for where integration is possible but where it is profitable. Oracle’s marketing phrase is ‘engineered systems to work together’. But it should be ‘engineered systems to buy together’. It’s a bundling on paper, not in the architecture.”

Microsoft

The key to understanding Microsoft, said Gaughan, is that Windows and Office are the core. They are ‘Microsoft’s crown jewels.’ “Microsoft will do everything to protect that core.” Gaughan advised against making “the mistake of slipping into an all-Microsoft strategy.”

SAP

One of SAP’s other big challenges is that it has largely exhausted the opportunity to upgrade existing customers. He recommends existing SAP customers use any purchase of new SAP solutions as an opportunity to bargain on the maintenance being paid for support of existing infrastructure, locking in maintenance rates now.

Services Angle

The big vendors face a paradox. The cash cow is so big now that it’s making it difficult for companies to disrupt themselves. In the meantime, the cloud continues to gain acceptance. Add to that a new licensing model that brings in revenues by the month, not in some form of a long-term contract.

The story goes on to explore the changes that are coming for the incumbent service providers. It’s a good read and one of the biggest stories to follow for 2012.