Small business awaits greater channel focus

Trade

Small businesses have the potential to be huge customers due to the amounts of money they are spending, but they are not getting the service to match that spend

More than 80 per cent of Irish companies polled in a survey conducted by the Small Firms Association said they had problems receiving effective technical support from their IT provider.

According to 71 per cent of respondents, many of the products and services supplied by the IT industry are considered overhyped and the language used was thought to be confusing and unnecessary. Half of all those surveyed thought that IT products and services were too expensive. 

Pat Delaney, director of the SFA, said that the market for small firms was potentially a lucrative one, pointing to the finding that 50 per cent of respondents said they had spent more than £5,000 installing their system, while 61 per cent had upgraded within the last nine months. 

In a bid to address the needs of this market sector, reseller Cara has set up an SMB (Small and Medium Sized Businesses) Group. The company said it has established the unit following recent requests from small companies for better service and user-friendly advice.

Cara changed its structures to give small businesses an appropriate level of service by designing technology offers specifically geared to them.

‘Small businesses have the potential to be huge customers due to the amounts of money they are spending, but they are not getting the service to match that spend,’ claimed group sales director Ron Maher.

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