Enterprise IT in the SME market
01.07.2002 - CCL news

According to a report recently published by Datamonitor, the SME market (small to medium sized enterprises) is where enterprise software solutions providers need to target attention, particularly in the areas of ERP, CRM and supply chain solutions. To date, solutions providers have focused their attention on the top-end of the market, however, Datamonitor's report claims that this market has now reached saturation point. Furthermore, the reduced presence of legacy systems in SMEs makes implementation easier, and could favour the use of a single software provider.

According to Datamonitor, SMEs have been slow to embrace eBusiness technology but there is now a growing awareness of the gains in efficiency, productivity and profitability, that IT can bring. This shift in the enterprise software industry is likely to lead to two major trends: a reworking of the enterprise solution offering to better reflect the needs of SMEs, and falling prices as solutions providers compete for share of this market. Competition will be further intensified by the influx of large software vendors that have been targeting the North American SME market for the last few years.

Enterprise solutions providers that are new to the SME market need to recognise that IT budgets are likely to be a fraction of those available in large enterprises, and may not actually exist at all in a formal capacity. A finance solution from CCL will enable SMEs to acquire an enterprise solution without impacting on cash flow, and with monthly payments, returns can be aligned with investment. Furthermore, a monthly payment allows for easy comparison with, for example, a salary. This comparison lets business decision makers to more easily assess the cost and return of the solution in line with areas of existing business expenditure.

Those companies already doing business in the SME market and considering how they can prevent existing customers defecting to the competition, should investigate CCL's Rental Exchange® solution. Rental Exchange® provides finance for an initial acquisition, with the facility to accrue equity within the agreement for a new phase of investment in one, two or three years time. This allows solutions providers to become ASPs, without having to effectively finance their customers' acquisitions.

If you would like to learn more about our finance products please call us on 01256 480500 or book a call from our home page.