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Rajeev Mittal
Group Director, SME
Microsoft India
Year 2008 was unprecedented for SMBs globally and in India too where they faced challenges brought on by economic concerns and global competition. None seems to be insulated anymore.
As businesses increasingly take tough decisions, the channel network will need to assist them to make choices regarding investments for the wellness of their businesses. Do they wait until the economy gets better before investing? Or do they continue to invest and look for strong ROI? More than ever before, strategic thinking will now distinguish successful businesses from the also-ran variety. This spells an opportunity for the channel community, and as they leverage this chance which has come their way, they will need to help businesses respond to the challenges.
Lack of awareness
There are two challenges on this front. First, there is a distinct lack of awareness among SMBs about the kind of benefits which technology can bring their way, and where there is understanding of the benefits there is ambiguity about the ways of acquisition, maintenance and deployment. To compound this, today there is also a financial crunch because of which investments in IT are likely to be re-prioritized. Efforts need to be put into making easier access to information about technology. Along with this, the channels of access to technology need to be made easier too. Partners will need to increasingly engage with SMBs and help them understand how best to get more out of IT.
Growing concerns
While globalization has opened new avenues, it has also created tough competition. This poses a set of challenges such as the need for professionalism, higher capital for growth, exposure to an international environment, and effective leadership to drive the change process.
Everyday, concerns around customer acquisition, productivity and business management are becoming even more acute. Nearly 45 percent of SMBs surveyed during a recent Microsoft flash poll are already reporting ‘slower payments from clients.’ When many businesses are worried about simply ‘keeping the lights on,’ they first turn to operational efficiencies where can they squeeze and stretch rupees. Here are three things they must remember at a time like this:
- IT is a wise decision because now is the time to build for tomorrow.
- IT provides powerful tools that can help organizations reduce costs.
- IT helps organizations operate smarter, and more strategically, even in times of economic uncertainty.
Investing in IT which helps organizations innovate creates conditions for more rapid growth. Small and midsize businesses are now seeking support from trusted IT partners to ensure that their IT investments are having the greatest possible impact on today’s three business imperatives: efficiency, flexibility and reliability.
Technology to the fore
Partners will need to assist businesses to do more with less and get more out of their current infrastructure. A few solutions which partners could recommend to businesses right now:
Unified Communication. Today, video conferencing and new collaboration tools are making virtual meetings much more like face-to-face interaction. In many cases, companies are finding that information sharing and collaboration can be accomplished more efficiently and for less cost when done virtually. As businesses strive to keep their communication lines intact but within their budget, unified communication solutions will become critical.
Virtualization. The need for increasing efficiencies will help virtualization emerge as a key to data center transformation. Awareness levels about virtualization among SMBs are still at an early stage, hence partners need to take the benefits of this technology to more SMBs.
New business models. Cloud computing will acquire greater relevance as businesses look to reduce their capex and the costs involved in the implementation and use of technology solutions. The lease/finance model will also start seeing more adoption as vendors push more products even as purchases decrease. But managed services—which involves transferring day-to-day-related management responsibilities as a strategic method for improving operational efficiency—and which could be a tool for SMBs to save on time and concentrate on core business, will not, according to AMI Partners, be among the most viable options for SMBs. Spending on them is expected to grow at a slower rate.
Our initiatives
Microsoft engages with its partners through the Microsoft Partner Program. Over the last few months we have come up with several programs to help our partners hone their skills. Through the Microsoft Partner Readiness Framework, a few thousand partners are trained every quarter on Microsoft’s core products and how to license them to customers under the umbrella of the Microsoft Foundation Series.
Going forward, our focus would be to increase and strengthen some of the following programs:
Reach Enabled Reseller Program to reach out to the broad reseller community which would like to do business with MS.
Partner Marketing Center to leverage a self-service portal to drive partner- led marketing activities.
Solution Partner Program which helps key technology-focused organizations to grow their businesses around areas like security, collaboration, search and business intelligence.
Partner 2 Partner Connect, or P2P, helps partners leverage each other’s contacts and grow their business.
Bottomline
The journey of the channel community over the last few years has seen them evolve from mere resellers to systems integrators, and it continues as they brace themselves to grow into the role of delivering solutions and services. The recent challenges in the economy should be taken as a lever to expedite this evolution. It is time for them to adopt the role of helping customers to grow. Good partners will eventually be those who become an extension of the customers they serve. Now is the time to sow the seeds for this symbiotic relationship.
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