J.D. Power Comes To I.T.J.D. Power Comes To I.T.

Information-technology products from servers to routers soon will carry ratings from J.D. Power and Associates based on the quality of after-sale service and support. Under a plan to be revealed this week, the Service & Support Professionals Association, which represents customer-service executives in the IT-products industry, will team with the market-research company to publish lists of vendors that achieve the highest service and support scores.

Vendors that score high on a best-practices audit and customer-satisfaction survey can use the J.D. Power Certified IT Service & Support logo on products and in marketing campaigns. "The bar will be set that much higher for everyone," says Dave Hare, Oracle group VP for support services. Certification criteria have yet to be determined.

Virtually all major IT vendors will participate. Automotive quality improved significantly after J.D. Power introduced its ratings process to that industry, the group says. The program will launch in the third quarter.