Manufacturing SMEs get security, hosting and management services
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IBM Global Services’ and Global Financing’s recently launched and tritely named ‘Manage It for Me’ offering of outsourced IT services and hardware, software and financing is interesting only because its aimed specifically at users with less than 1,000 employees. Brian Tinham reports
IBM Global Services’ and Global Financing’s recently launched and tritely named ‘Manage It for Me’ offering of outsourced IT services and hardware, software and financing is interesting only because its aimed specifically at users with less than 1,000 employees.
IBM seems to have taken heed of analyst AMI-Partners figures that show UK medium-sized businesses expected to spend $10 billion on their IT over the next few years, with 50% of that on services.
Jeremy Budd, IBM director for SMEs in the UK, says the firm is now offering decades’ worth of services and consultancy experience, as well as its “knowledge of the needs of medium-sized businesses [to] deliver specialised services to companies that want to use technology to help them gain competitive advantage.”
In particular, he points out that SMEs will be able to budget IT project and operations costs, take advantage of the latest in security, hosting and management services, and get all that for a monthly fee – with the obvious attractions of attention to core business and spread funding.
Big Blue is no doubt betting on businesses wanting to undertake e-projects faster than capital budgets and internal resources will allow. In 2001, IBM Global Services saw a 40% growth in its services business through IBM Business Partners, and it expects the trend to accelerate this year.
The three key components of the SMEs offering are security assurance services, total IT infrastructure management and application hosting and management services, also including website and other online applications.
The firm says it will begin testing a new IBM Virtual Help Desk with customers this summer, aimed at remotely managing users’ desktop systems, simplifying IT systems and making IT cost budgeting predictable budget.
With costs for managed storage services, for example, of around $10 to $25 per gigabyte per month, we can expect relatively attractive pricing – but more importantly, a way round the financial constraints of the age.