The current slowdown will also give an impetus to many technologies, some of which include Green IT, cloud computing, graphics and Web, writes Anil Chopra, editor at Cybermedia.
Media the world over is predicting this to be the worst economic slowdown ever. But then, people who have lived through various economic cycles would easily be able to split the hype from reality, and tell that while the causes of a slowdown vary, their impact is usually similar in nature. We can easily apply this formula to the current slowdown and predict that this one is no different from the previous one or the one before that.
Let's look at the slowdown of 2001, which happened due to the great dot com bust and compare it with the current one. Much before it actually happened, people predicted that there was a dot com bubble just waiting to burst, and bring with it a recession. But nobody of course could in their wildest of dreams predict the disaster that followed and brought down with it the US and world economy-the Sep 11 attack on WTC. Markets crashed, demands dipped, giving rise to higher unemployment, pink slips, and company closures.
Now let's come to the current slowdown. Much before it started, people knew that it would be caused by the US sub-prime crisis. Nobody however, had predicted that it would be so bad that many leading multi-national banks and financial institutes would go bankrupt. But the results of the current slowdown remain similar to the previous one-job cuts, stock market crash, dip in market demands, and the like.
So the key learning from slowdowns is that they're a way for markets to correct themselves and provide everyone an opportunity to think about the next big thing. After the dot com bust, the web emerged stronger than ever. Today everyone's going gaga over Web 2.0, social networking, and the benefits it provides. The humble server room transformed itself into a powerful data center to host business critical applications, and e-Commerce became a standard practice amongst most enterprises. The WTC attack reduced air travel, giving a boost to video conferencing, and also made DR and BCP common practice amongst enterprises.
Likewise, the current slowdown will also give an impetus to many technologies, some of which include Green IT, cloud computing, graphics, web, etc. We've talked about ten of them along with their likely future impact in this month's cover story.
It's also forcing CIOs to reduce their IT purchase and focus more on improving efficiencies within their existing IT infrastructures. We've talked about the impact of the slowdown on enterprises at length in our IT strategy guide for CIOs along with tips on how to survive the slowdown.
Lastly, the good thing about a slowdown is that it reduces complacency and forces people to think differently and identify new opportunities. So why should it be different during the current slowdown? Our IT careers story this time explains just how bad is the job market and areas that are growing.
So treat the slowdown as an opportunity and take yourself to the next level. All the best and wish you a fulfilling new year ahead!
Source: Cybermedia
Showing posts with label Cybermedia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cybermedia. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Ten tips for resellers
Some top tips for resellers in managing their business, particularly in difficult macroeconomic conditions from Arrow ECS Arrow - Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics Inc. recently offered the following tips to resellers in managing their business, particularly in difficult macroeconomic conditions.
Additional guidance for resellers in managing their business, and comprehensive resources to help them grow faster than the market and faster than the competition is available at www.ArrowECS.com!
1. Do not depend on product reselling as your only source of profit. Have other sources of profit generation that supports your businesses. Successful value–added resellers must add additional value to supplier offerings to ensure a predictable and profitable revenue flow. "If I create my own service offering outside of the products, then I'm in a situation that I'm having a solutions discussion with customers, focusing on a particular methodology or service offering that I've designed," said Mike Strohl, president of Concord, Calif.–based Entisys Solutions Inc. and Agile 360, a division of Entisys. "It's a lot easier to sell products and services that way."
2. Know your customers' total information technology spend and be aware of how the solution fits into the end–user's environment with a view to fully "clothing" the sale. For example, is there opportunity for additional software, accessories, printers or personal computers? Ask questions to ensure that you are maximizing your selling opportunity. "Knowing the total IT spend is important, but you should also know and understand your customer's budget cycle and get into that process," said Strohl. "There is extreme power in being a part of that process. You know all their projects, what they can spend and where their money comes from."
3. Focus on solving business problems for your customer, not just selling them product. Anyone can do that, and solutions automatically sell more product, and are less price sensitive. "Compliance regulations such as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the Sarbanes–Oxley Act and others are driving purchases around security solutions," said Jim Steinlage, president of Kansas City–based Choice Solutions LLC. "I'm also seeing increased interest in solutions that offer opportunities to work remotely."
4. Leverage the resources of your value–added distributor. You are simply increasing your cost structure and making yourself less competitive if you don't take advantage of your distributor's resources and hire your own team. "Nettitude has worked with the DNS group of Arrow ECS for a number of years. We are able to tap into the specific product knowledge of Arrow ECS' technical team and partner with their sales and marketing resources to deliver targeted campaigns and drive sales," said Martin Watts, sales manager for Nettitude, a security reseller based in the United Kingdom. "This close relationship has contributed to a 25 percent revenue growth year–over–year in security products delivered by Nettitude."
5. "Focus on solutions that have a short-term return on investment," offered Steinlage. "IT decision-makers aren't into solutions with a two-year ROI right now. They are much more into the solutions with ROI of a year or less."
6. Add as much service as possible. If a project requires skills you don't have, partner with your distributor or even another value–added reseller if necessary, but don't just leave the customer looking for someone to address their needs. It invites competition into your accounts. "The smart VARs are the ones that know their own skill set, that can identify what they're experts in – and find other partners with other products and solution lines that complement their offerings," said Strohl. "There is more in that than what just seems obvious."
7. Identify new customers. VARs must engage in marketing activities to find new customers. Without new customers, VARs cannot grow, and without growth they will fail. "New customers are indeed the lifeblood of a business," said Dan Lowery, president of St. Louis-based Lowery Systems Inc. "Each year, we try to leverage the resources of Arrow ECS, such as its MPower program for the midmarket, or new service areas from IBM to identify new customers. The intent is to get new names, and grow with them. By using resources that are available to us through Arrow ECS and IBM, the cost to us is greatly reduced."
8. Leverage supplier programs that protect margins. Supplier deal registration programs are critical tools for VARs to demonstrate and protect their value. "I pay a dividend to train one person to track all certifications, rebates and sales promotion incentive fees," said Lowery. "By utilizing market development funds from various sources, we are often able to put on a first-class event at minimal cost."
9. FOCUS! You can't be all things to all people. Know your value proposition, be able to articulate it and make sure your business is organized around it. It's never been more critical for VARs to have a value proposition and be able to deliver it. Communicate your value to suppliers and ensure your distributors are supporting that effort.
10. "Know thy pipeline," said Andy Bryant, president of Arrow ECS. "You really have to get underneath the pipeline and ask, 'is this project going to go or not?'"
Additional guidance for resellers in managing their business, and comprehensive resources to help them grow faster than the market and faster than the competition is available at www.ArrowECS.com!
1. Do not depend on product reselling as your only source of profit. Have other sources of profit generation that supports your businesses. Successful value–added resellers must add additional value to supplier offerings to ensure a predictable and profitable revenue flow. "If I create my own service offering outside of the products, then I'm in a situation that I'm having a solutions discussion with customers, focusing on a particular methodology or service offering that I've designed," said Mike Strohl, president of Concord, Calif.–based Entisys Solutions Inc. and Agile 360, a division of Entisys. "It's a lot easier to sell products and services that way."
2. Know your customers' total information technology spend and be aware of how the solution fits into the end–user's environment with a view to fully "clothing" the sale. For example, is there opportunity for additional software, accessories, printers or personal computers? Ask questions to ensure that you are maximizing your selling opportunity. "Knowing the total IT spend is important, but you should also know and understand your customer's budget cycle and get into that process," said Strohl. "There is extreme power in being a part of that process. You know all their projects, what they can spend and where their money comes from."
3. Focus on solving business problems for your customer, not just selling them product. Anyone can do that, and solutions automatically sell more product, and are less price sensitive. "Compliance regulations such as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the Sarbanes–Oxley Act and others are driving purchases around security solutions," said Jim Steinlage, president of Kansas City–based Choice Solutions LLC. "I'm also seeing increased interest in solutions that offer opportunities to work remotely."
4. Leverage the resources of your value–added distributor. You are simply increasing your cost structure and making yourself less competitive if you don't take advantage of your distributor's resources and hire your own team. "Nettitude has worked with the DNS group of Arrow ECS for a number of years. We are able to tap into the specific product knowledge of Arrow ECS' technical team and partner with their sales and marketing resources to deliver targeted campaigns and drive sales," said Martin Watts, sales manager for Nettitude, a security reseller based in the United Kingdom. "This close relationship has contributed to a 25 percent revenue growth year–over–year in security products delivered by Nettitude."
5. "Focus on solutions that have a short-term return on investment," offered Steinlage. "IT decision-makers aren't into solutions with a two-year ROI right now. They are much more into the solutions with ROI of a year or less."
6. Add as much service as possible. If a project requires skills you don't have, partner with your distributor or even another value–added reseller if necessary, but don't just leave the customer looking for someone to address their needs. It invites competition into your accounts. "The smart VARs are the ones that know their own skill set, that can identify what they're experts in – and find other partners with other products and solution lines that complement their offerings," said Strohl. "There is more in that than what just seems obvious."
7. Identify new customers. VARs must engage in marketing activities to find new customers. Without new customers, VARs cannot grow, and without growth they will fail. "New customers are indeed the lifeblood of a business," said Dan Lowery, president of St. Louis-based Lowery Systems Inc. "Each year, we try to leverage the resources of Arrow ECS, such as its MPower program for the midmarket, or new service areas from IBM to identify new customers. The intent is to get new names, and grow with them. By using resources that are available to us through Arrow ECS and IBM, the cost to us is greatly reduced."
8. Leverage supplier programs that protect margins. Supplier deal registration programs are critical tools for VARs to demonstrate and protect their value. "I pay a dividend to train one person to track all certifications, rebates and sales promotion incentive fees," said Lowery. "By utilizing market development funds from various sources, we are often able to put on a first-class event at minimal cost."
9. FOCUS! You can't be all things to all people. Know your value proposition, be able to articulate it and make sure your business is organized around it. It's never been more critical for VARs to have a value proposition and be able to deliver it. Communicate your value to suppliers and ensure your distributors are supporting that effort.
10. "Know thy pipeline," said Andy Bryant, president of Arrow ECS. "You really have to get underneath the pipeline and ask, 'is this project going to go or not?'"
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Formala for cost containment
Gartner preaches '25-techniques' for CIOs
It is aimed at helping CIOs and their organizations around the world
cut costs and improve their performance
Manu Sharma
BANGALORE, INDIA: Enterprises increasingly expect CIOs and IT to deliver
solutions that make a difference to business strategies. But many times
CIOs far exceed their IT budgets thus impacting on the company's growth.
However, Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory
company has proposed a "25-points formula" for companies towards cost
containment and improving their performance.
To continue reading the entire article check on the link below:
http://ciol.com/Enterprise/News-Reports/Gartner-preaches-25-techniques-for-CIOs/19908110613/0/
It is aimed at helping CIOs and their organizations around the world
cut costs and improve their performance
Manu Sharma
BANGALORE, INDIA: Enterprises increasingly expect CIOs and IT to deliver
solutions that make a difference to business strategies. But many times
CIOs far exceed their IT budgets thus impacting on the company's growth.
However, Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory
company has proposed a "25-points formula" for companies towards cost
containment and improving their performance.
To continue reading the entire article check on the link below:
http://ciol.com/Enterprise/News-Reports/Gartner-preaches-25-techniques-for-CIOs/19908110613/0/
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