Technology suppliers account for 6 out of 10 of the worlds most valuable Brands, including the number 1. This contradicts the perception that IT supply is an immature industry, and needs to influence IT customers' sourcing tactics.

The 2008 Brandz Top 100 Report, from Milward Brown Optimor, listing the world's top 100 most powerful Brands, was released on Monday, 21st April 2008. As well as technology Brands accounting for 6 out of the top 10, the report highlights that: "The technology sector (including mobile operators), which accounted for 28 of the Top 100 brands, outperformed all other categories in this year's BrandZ Ranking, with a brand value growth of US$187.5bn. This is more than half of the Top 100's total increase."

Now, the technology supply industry is undoubtedly a turbulent place, and is frequently bringing new propositions to market and making old propositions obsolete. But, contrary to some perceptions, that does not mean it is immature. At sustained Brand-value building, at the very least, it would seem to be very mature indeed.

Which makes it worth pondering this question: in the technology companies with high-value Brands, is their corporate Brand strategy more mature than their Products strategy - and what is the interdependency between the two?

For example, if as Customers we're disappointed in a supplier's products (whether these are technology or anything else) but keep buying into their Brand, we might wonder why. And for any supplier where Brand value is king, customers who haggle over price while expressing concerns about product quality may be negotiating at the margins rather than with the supplier's commercial soul.

Something to bear in mind in our IT sourcing strategies....