If you decide to embark upon the IP route, from whom will you be
buying the essential technology? What knowledge does the average
partner have of your IP networking needs? Christopher Walton
reports on the issues you should be aware of
No business has ever pondered how to spend more money when
procuring their technology, and for companies of your size the key
concern is how to cut overheads in both your IT and communications
infrastructure while keeping pace with the relentless changes in
technology.
The world of communications is, to use the industry terminology,
converging. Your data (IT) network, with the appropriate technology
upgrade, could carry all your voice communication traffic - or is
that the other way around? And to maintain pace with change so that
you can compete in the short and medium term, the time to upgrade
your network is now. That means sourcing as much information about
IP networks as possible. Yet before you can realise the potential
benefits of IP and IP networks, you have to address the issue of
dealing with those who will supply you with the required
technology. There are lots of suppliers out there, including
national providers such as BT, the reseller channel and online
sources. The first choice is who you want to do business with.
Rey Geelani, Managing Director at SME specialist service provider
and reseller Network Interlinks, explains what IP means for his
business and yours: "For the SME considering this sort of move [to
IP networks], it is generally driven by some sort of project -
either taking on a second office, hot-desking or home work.
Activities like these will precipitate the need for this type of
technology - then they will have to consider how they go about
purchasing it. SMEs tend to buy from people like us - fellow
SMEs."
Network Interlinks is just one of thousands of specialist IT
resellers who are keeping pace with changes in technology and will
be the primary source of service for companies like yours. But is
it the vendor's technology pushing the change, or the needs of the
customers facilitating the push to converge?
Richard Pitt, Director of SME Solutions Group for Avaya UK and
Ireland, says: "Smaller businesses need a dependable system [for
voice] and a network that gives them web access and website hosting
capabilities and the standard way is to build a LAN and get in as
many communications devices without hassle. The most cost-effective
way for them to install a network is to buy in all the capabilities
(voice, data and applications hosting) without compromise.
"The SME needs to think what is happening with the technology and
how this is going to evolve their business - and they need to buy
in a network that is IP ready. There are three types of business:
the SME that does not need IP and does not want to be ready; the
SME that wants IP but cannot afford to be IP ready, and the SME
that wants to and can afford to be IP ready. All three need to look
where the cost savings are."
Simplify your network
Peter Crowcombe, Head of Corporate Marketing at switch and routing
vendor Juniper, concurs: "At SME level, the main driver to IP
networks is to simplify your network infrastructure. That means
infrastructure delivering multiple application types not only on
data but on voice. This is now a realistic proposition for the
medium-sized enterprise, particularly as that technology is
over-distributed.
"Critical to this delivery is the service provider - they have
migrated their services to a single platform and can implement that
service to the SME." To get the best deal on an IP network you need
to look at a networking infrastructure that is reliable and
provides a cost-effective return on voice communications as well as
IT. "The SME wants something cheap to deploy and something that
does not go down. You can control cost levels on a daily basis,"
Crowcombe adds.
He strongly believes that resellers should be very much on your
side when it comes to discovering information about IP networks and
even when buying them.
"Our largest internal element of our marketing spend is in our
channel; we have to support the channel to support the SME,"
Crowcombe asserts.
Resellers would admit that the vendors of IP equipment have to
spend a great deal of money with their resellers so that they can
support properly your needs.
But there are subtle differences within the channel, says Simon
Brough, NEC Product Marketing Manager at channel distributor Crane.
"Over the past three years technology has moved at a rapid pace
toward full IP networks, yet within this sector there are subtle
differences in approach taken by each vendor.
"From this perspective, what has become clear is the variety of
technologies available claiming to offer the same converged utopia.
In a market where vendors promise the same result with different
tools, there is bound to be confusion on the part of the purchaser.
Furthermore, if you add into the mix scare tactics surrounding
security and future-proofing, both of which are broadly apparent
within the channel, this confusion is added to," says Brough.
Searching questions
Whatever your partner, you should be asking your dealer some
searching questions. Have they really have kept pace with changes
in technology? Can they can provide you with the solutions that the
implementation of an IP network demands?
Stuart Muirhead, Sales and Marketing Director at independent
service provider Trend Network Services, asserts: "Many smaller
organisations may not take advantage of IP as they could, they are
using IP because they just want the phone. Medium-sized companies
and bigger are talking about business realignment - the whole
change of a networks operational use using the infrastructure for
competitive advantage."
Muirhead warns that just as SMEs did not have the necessary
technology skills to realise the benefits of the IP network,
neither does the channel.
He explains: "I cannot think of a reseller who can provide all
three [aspects of IP network delivery] at the level that is
required and charge the right price. You have good network
resellers, good voice resellers and good server resellers but not
one who can do all three well, and the IP network will bring
together all the different applications. Ideally you would go to
just the one reseller, but you have to work with other partners
with the skills in a consortium approach."
The consortium approach is a key consideration when looking for the
best deal in IP network procurement; if you have three suppliers to
consider the chances of costs rising triples.
Mick Hegarty, General Manager for ICT in BT Business, recognises
the dilemma faced by many SMEs. "Larger SMEs often want to work
with networking providers who can offer breadth, scalability and
confidence. Smaller SMEs want all this too, but they also prefer a
local face." BT's approach to this has been to set up a reseller
channel of its own called 'BT Local Business'. It has created over
80 independently owned resellers covering the whole of the UK. As
Hegarty says: "They are SMEs, they think like SMEs and they act
like SMEs. But they can draw on all the design, services,
management and strengths of BT."
However there is a danger that you could be influenced too much in
your purchasing decision by those from whom you buy. Ian Morris,
founder and Joint Managing Director at distributor Equip, believes
that the vast majority of SMEs moving towards an IP network are
being led by their reseller.
He says: "A lot of SMEs are being made aware by the reseller about
how the technology is moving forward. And from a technology point
of view, this is being driven by lower costs - the demand to
connect to an office and its internal storage has always existed,
but has never been affordable."
Setting the levels
Getting the best deal requires a service level agreement (SLA).
This means not just coping with your network breaking down - the
most common post-sales service - but considering the design and
implementation of your network, the pre-sale before you even get
the kit shipped in. Such knowledge could be essential in setting up
your deal.
Says Morris: "SME SLA agreements in this space do not exist because
the SME wants a 'best endeavours' type of service. They would like
the problem fixed in four hours, but they are not prepared to pay
for the SLA that gives them this fix. The reseller has to be able
to offer the contract they require as the SME needs that
flexibility."
One cash-guzzler can be the break-fix maintenance, and the terms
and conditions of this should be a key part of any SLA.
Mark Gains, Business Services Manager at IP network service
provider and reseller 3Net, admits: "Many [SMEs] are looking at
their network and how it aligns to their business, but there are
expensive break-fix contracts that do not offer a lot of value to
our clients. This can be 12 months' budget down the drain. We have
to sit down with our clients and conduct an audit on what they need
in the short, medium and long term. Once we have got these
parameters set up we can start to draw up an SLA, including the
break-fix contracts. So part of the work we do is how to move from
an expensive support contract to a frugal support contract."
Gains adds: "But it is not just about what support contract you are
getting, it is about return on investment (ROI) - you have to
perceive what value is in your IP network. This is an opportunity
to evolve the network, which could be a better return on your cash.
You have found a way to make your network more responsive and more
reliable; this helps your business and helps increase your
revenues."
To help decrease your overheads with a streamlined IT and
communications infrastructure there remains three key concerns when
procuring an IP network. First, learn what IP is and why it is
beneficial to your business. Second, learn how IP networks are sold
and who can provide you the most dependable infrastructure and
service. Third, learn how to buy, which means a comprehensive SLA
agreement, hopefully covering all the answers to your current
networking problems.
In the last analysis, procuring an IP networking infrastructure is
all about confidence in your suppliers. As BT's Hegarty says: "SMEs
look for several things in a supplier. They want confidence that
the supplier has financial security, accredited engineers and
ability to control the network.
"Ideally, they want breadth of services so that they can go to one
place for their network, internet, devices and applications, 'one
throat to choke'. And they want management services, flexibility
and scalability to meet their needs as they change."