From Windows.
April 01, 1999, Issue: 1004
Section: Features
At Your Service -- PC vendors get serious about full-service
support.
Jonathan Blackwood, Senior Technology Editor
Your business needs PCs-and it needs help running them. At least that's the
conclusion of leading PC vendors that have recently launched an array of
support services for small and medium-sized companies. This transformation
from PC vendor to PC and services vendor represents a sea change in the
business technology buying process-suddenly your desktop vendor wants to
be your business partner.
These programs run the gamut from needs assessment through specification,
installation, training, maintenance, upgrades and repair at your location.
Offerings vary
considerably among the top five vendors: Compaq, Dell, IBM,
Hewlett-Packard and Gateway. Compaq, IBM and Gateway offer the most
comprehensive services, going far beyond the care and feeding of your
systems. Compaq, for instance, offers programs ranging from online services
to help you run and expand your business to creating custom applications. For
these vendors, it means establishing new-and perhaps
long-lasting-relationships with their customers. And you stand to get a
complete technology solution from a single vendor. But what exactly do they
offer and are the services worth the investment?
Small Business, Big Dilemma
The greatest challenge to vendors targeting small and medium-sized businesses
(SMB) is dealing with the diversity of this market. To do so, while providing
the functional equivalent of an in-house IT department, vendors are tapping a
variety of resources: Offering the services themselves, using national
third-party companies participating in their programs or outsourcing these
functions to local value-added resellers (VARs). In the past, it was up to the
customer to find the VAR that met its needs. Now the vendors will often serve
as matchmakers by pairing customers with local VARs-and then help ensure
that the relationship yields the desired results.
A common thread runs through these programs: They provide services that
PC vendors normally haven't offered to small companies, financed through a
single lease (or purchase) payment.
The traditional vendors-Compaq, IBM and Hewlett-Packard-have an edge
over direct vendors Dell and Gateway because of their long-standing
relationships with VARs and consultants. (In the U.S., Compaq has 11,000
"business partners"-Compaq's name for its VARs and consultants.) But the
direct vendors have earned a degree of trust from their SMB customers,
which they may be able to leverage to build long-term support relationships.
Here's an assessment of each vendor's support plans. Take a look to get an
idea of how serious-or not so serious-the Big Five are about doing business
with you.
Compaq's Course
Compaq approaches SMB support from several angles. First, the hardware:
Rather than designing products from the ground up, Compaq is refocusing
existing platforms-Deskpro PCs, Armada notebooks, Prosignia servers-into
the Prosignia line for small businesses. These PCs are all fully DMI
2.0-compliant and offer a wealth of manageability features. And, Compaq will
soon offer a "server appliance" that makes installation so simple, most
businesses will be able to install a network unassisted.
Beyond the very respectable hardware, Compaq offers an impressive array of
services that can be packaged to fit specific requirements. Not the least of
these is financing: One example is a complete network leasing package-a
server, four desktops, a notebook, installation and two of its online
services-for $389 per month.
Compaq's Online Services suite, which can be ordered in advance or added
later, is also attractive:
- online.commerce helps a business create an Internet storefront in about 24
hours. Compaq's partners in this endeavor are INEX, Microsoft and MPACT
- online.delivery allows digital delivery (with encryption) of business files over
the Internet, using UPS or e-Parcel
- online.briefcase lets notebook users easily synchronize their files with their
office desktop systems
- online.backup provides off-site data storage via the Internet
- online.library offers tutorials for a variety of applications
- online.connectivity lets businesses sign up with an ISP, such as GTE, at the
click of an icon
But small businesses also need software tailored to their needs-so-called
vertical apps. Compaq is inaugurating a program that creates partnerships with
dozens of vertical app publishers. The publishers gain access to new
customers, and the customers get financing plans to pay for the apps.
Compaq calls the final piece of its program "Customer Choice." Prosignias
can be purchased directly from Compaq, at retail stores, or from VARs and
consultants. And soon you'll be able to purchase hardware, vertical apps and
Compaq services from your accountant, lawyer or other consultant you know
and trust, with financing from Compaq. So the professionals you've engaged
for key business support can also become a one-stop shop for Compaq
products and services.
The sum of these parts is a tailored solution from a single vendor and paid for
with a single payment.
Dell's Deals
Dell has been addressing small-business needs with leasing packages and help
with installation and on-site service. Dell now offers Web-based services like
Breakfast with Dell chats, where chairman and CEO Michael Dell and other
experts discuss the needs and concerns of small businesses.
Dell's other SMB offerings are much less ambitious than its competitors'. Dell
offers individualized Premier Pages on its Web site-the centerpiece of Dell's
program. These pages keep track of your purchases, configurations, service
records, order status and so on. In short, the site relates mainly to hardware
sales in some form. Still, it's proven popular: Dell now hosts 3,200 Premier
Pages in its SMB section.
Dell also trumpets its Virtual Account Executive program, which briefs SMB
customers about upcoming products and the impact of emerging technologies.
The company's SMB program doesn't go any further at present. Dell's focus
on hardware solutions makes sense, but the end result seems to be more
about selling boxes than selling solutions.
Gateway's Wares
With its Your:)Ware program for consumers, Gateway set out to build
long-term relationships with its home PC users. The company hopes to
duplicate that successful style of relationship building with its SMB customers.
The keystone of Gateway's push in the SMB arena is its growing network of
Gateway Country Stores. At press time, there were 144 stores, with more on
the way. The Country Store concept is unusual: Customers don't walk in, find
what they want and walk out with computers. Rather, the stores serve as
places to:
- Demonstrate Gateway products
- Provide face-to-face advice
- Order Gateway equipment and services for later delivery
- Provide training
- Provide service and upgrades
- Build relationships with customers, and with VARs and consultants who can
provide on-premises services to those customers
You can finance these goods and services through a single lease payment.
Gateway's hybrid approach-a "live" presence combined with services from
local VARs and consultants-could provide the level of tailored support your
company needs.
Hewlett-Packard's Basics
Three years ago, Hewlett-Packard led the pack with PCs designed for small
businesses. The Brio series (originally the Vectra 500 Series) represented a
bold stroke, including not just the PCs but option packages that let you add
features, such as CD-ROM drives, network cards and so forth.
But Brio sales faltered, and HP has since recast the line as "feature-rich, with
the latest technology, at the absolute best prices." You'll notice similar phrases
as a common theme among the Big Five vendors when describing their SMB
offerings.
HP leaves virtually all the hand-holding, installation and other services to its
VARs. But if Compaq, IBM and Gateway are successful with their more
involved efforts, expect HP to jump back into the direct-services route with
both feet.
IBM's A-to-Z Offerings
IBM has been in the business of providing tailored SMB solutions longer than
any of its competitors. It offers a variety of Internet and e-commerce
services-such as software, Web hosting and site design-along with servers,
PCs and notebooks galore, which can be leased through IBM, assembled in a
package, and installed and supported by a VAR.
But there are some interesting twists to IBM's SMB support. Its San
Francisco initiative is a cooperative effort among 200 software companies to
develop Java-based, vertical apps. And IBM has a library of solutions for
scores of different types of small businesses. For a complete list of IBM's
SMB solutions, see www.businesscenter.ibm.com.
IBM, of course, has suites of horizontal apps, mainly through its Lotus
subsidiary. These include the IBM Small Business Suite for Windows NT,
comprising Lotus Domino, DB2 Universal Database, Lotus Notes and Lotus
SmartSuite Millennium Edition. The company also offers complete
e-commerce services through its "Startup for e-business" service: IBM
HomePage Creator, credit card ordering, merchant account setups, tax
calculation, Lotus Mail, Netscape Navigator 4.0.5, backup, 30-day ISP trial
accounts and Web hosting. IBM is in a unique position because it can supply
hardware, support services, vertical apps and off-the-shelf business software.
Too Big to Ignore
Of the plans we examined, Compaq's and IBM's are the most ambitious-not
surprising, given their experience dealing with VARs, their extensive resources
and their broad product lines. But Gateway's imaginative hybrid of bread-
and-butter direct sales and VAR support may be just the ticket for your
company, or less intrusive support from Dell or HP may suffice. And the
choices will grow: At press time, Micron announced that it, too, would offer
SMB support services.
These days, for smaller businesses, the days of playing second string are over.
You're the biggest game in town, and the big vendors want to play ball with
you.
PC Support Plan Shopping List
Use this checklist of things to consider when evaluating support programs.
When you're ready to upgrade or enhance your current PC configuration,
look beyond the hardware and ask PC vendors if they can provide the
services you will need.
- Do you want help assessing your systems needs?
- Do you need configuration design help?
- Do you require on-site support?
- Will you need ongoing support for everyday administration and
maintenance?
- Do you want single-point financing so you can pay for all hardware,
software and services with one monthly payment?
- Will you or your staff need training?
- Does your business require custom or specialized applications?
- Do you need help with network design, installation and administration?
- Do want to set up a Web site for your business?
- Will you require help setting up Internet e-commerce?
- Do you need off-site data backup?
- Is on-site repair important?
- Would you like help with strategic planning to prepare for future
considerations?
Big Stats for Small Business
Do you fit the government's definition of a small business? The standards used
by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to define a small business
vary widely, depending on industry type. Generally, annual receipts or number
of employees determine size. For example, in most manufacturing concerns,
employing 500 or less workers would classify a company as a small business;
most retail businesses must have average annual receipts of less than $5
million.
According to the SBA, small businesses ...
- Account for 99.7% of all employers
- Employ 53% of the country's private work force
- Garner 35% of federal contract money
- Account for 28% of high-tech jobs
- Are responsible for 51% of the private sector's output
- Represent 96% of all U.S. exporters |
