IT and telecommunications suppliers
A recent survey by SIR suggested that half of SMEs would talk to their local IT supplier when considering communications purchases however very few of them sell and support the products their customers are interested in. The rest turn to their telecommunications providers who are ahead of the game in many ways already supplying internet connectivity and traditional and hosted telephony.
The findings
SIR surveyed 12,000 senior decision makers of SMEs between 10-100 employees. 56% of respondents said they use a local IT company to support their hardware and software and 49% said they would talk to local suppliers first when considering replacing or upgrading their office communications.
Why are IT companies shying away from telephony?
Evidence suggests that local IT companies are not making best use of their trusted advisor status. Often as a result of bad experiences with telcos and ‘mucky minutes’ they tend to avoid selling connectivity and telecommunications. In this ever-converging world this is letting telecoms dealers into their market with new hosted telephony and hosted desktop products.
Who could help?
Companies such as Jola help IT support and telecommunications companies find best-of-breed solutions for their customers. They help channel partners introduce new solutions and provide useful tools to make it easy to source, quote, order and install new solutions. If you are thinking about adding new internet and cloud voice services to your portfolio...
