IP Communications

If one thing came across loud and clear during ITEXPO’s “How To: Generate Monthly Revenue with Unique Service Offerings” session, it’s that SMBs have more complex networks and opportunities than ever before and, accordingly, service providers must differentiate themselves and take note of the growing SMB group. And, part of that awareness, is realizing that although a powerful group, the SMB still needs a little hand holding as it navigates through today’s changing IT landscape.

“There is a tremendous amount of hand holding involved and you better be ready for it,” Charles Lomond, agent channel manager for IP communications company AireSpring (News - Alert), said during this morning’s session.

“Where I see the opportunity with the SMB space is more in footprint and convergence of product offerings,” he added. “I need to be able to bring a turnkey solution to every office on your application without your having to invest in new hardware. You have to add value there and save you money at the same time. From the perspective of hand holding, you have to make the systems as intuitive as possible and you have to have the infrastructure in place to introduce to somebody who is not IT savvy.”

According to fellow panelist Chris Goodman, senior director of enterprise and cloud computing at CA (News - Alert), while the SMB might not be IT savvy it sure is IT interested. Specifically, in today’s ever changing technology landscape, SMBs are showing a strong desire to move to popular offerings like the cloud.

In fact, Forrester (News - Alert) recently mapped out cloud interest compared with cloud adoption and found that the smaller a company is the higher its interest in cloud. Conversely, the larger a company is the lower its interest in cloud. Surprisingly though, large enterprises have a greater degree of cloud adoption than SMBs despite SMBs’ expressed interest. Perhaps this is because SMBs need a little bit more TLC, panelists said.

“Although there is interest in the SMB, they are not sophisticated enough to take advantage yet,” Goodman said. “If you are going after SMBs, you are going to have to grab them and pull them… That’s going to allow you to win.”

“I see that as a tremendous opportunity to differentiate yourself based on what you do to reach out and grab the SMB and make them feel comfortable about doing something out off their comfort zone,” he added.

Part of the problem with cloud and the SMB, according to panelist Jeff Uphues, vice president of sales and marketing at Cbeyond, is that the language might just be too complex. From, IaaS to PaaS to SaaS (News - Alert) to virtual servers to cloud servers, the technology is riddled with acronyms.

“They really don’t get it,” Uphues said. “We spent most of 2011 trying to force Infrastructure as a Service to the SMB as a provider and the SMB doesn’t understand anything about what Infrastructure as a Service is. If you start talking to them about virtual servers and dedicated servers and cloud servers they look at you like you are talking Martian.”

In addition to having to hold the SMB’s hand, it is also important for service providers to have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to customer satisfaction. According to the panelists, there are a variety of ways to measure customer happiness and doing so ensures that service providers can remain competitive in the industry.

For AireSpring, the IP communications company relies on customer experience surveys to make sure that customer’s needs are being adequately met.

“The reason they are considering an AireSpring in the first place is because of a bad customer experience previously,” Lomond said. “From the gate, you have to differentiate.”

“You have to be able to adjust on the fly,” he added. “The more standardized you become, the more difficulty you are going to have with giving a good customer experience. We are constantly in flux and constantly going through how do we adjust to create a better customer experience.” 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, happening now, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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