REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 5, 2012 — At
the beginning of each new year, many companies take stock of their
business and budgets and set fresh goals. Technology concerns have
become an integral part of this process as business makes use of IT in
ever-evolving ways.
Legacy systems need to be
updated on a regular basis, as always, but in addition organizations
may need to consider adding mobile technologies, cloud services and
unified communications systems to keep pace with modern modes of
conducting business.
According to Gartner Inc., "the forces of cloud
computing, social media and social networking, mobility and information
management are all evolving at a rapid pace.”* In addition, the research
group predicts that "a shift to the cloud will drive higher IT spending
in 2012.”**
Growth will have a significant impact on how business planning and IT spending interconnect.
Flexible Financing for Customers
In
today’s uncertain global economy, however, businesses are looking for
smart ways to get ahead with technology without putting their bottom
lines at risk. Having access to flexible financing with predictable
payments aligned to the organization’s cycles is critical.
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Microsoft Financing
provides an attractive alternative to drawing down cash reserves or
using existing credit lines. Well-thought-out financing allows small,
medium-sized and enterprise-level companies to build, sustain and expand
IT infrastructure to meet business goals while freeing up cash flow by
spreading payments out.
"Microsoft Financing
is focused on making it easier for our customers to acquire the
technology they need and want to grow their business, and to make it
easier to work with Microsoft,” says Seth Eisner, general manager of
Microsoft Financing.
More than 6,000 customers
worldwide have opted to take advantage of Microsoft Financing to more
easily purchase Microsoft products and services.
Managing Cash Flow and Streamlining Operations
Steria,
one of the top 10 providers of IT-enabled business services in Europe,
recently took advantage of Microsoft Financing to standardize and unify
IT implementations across affiliates in 16 countries, giving the company
the flexibility to run older software versions for application
compatibility.
"We’ve known about financing
but not for software,” says Phillip Cournot, purchasing officer at
Steria. "We’ve used other sources to procure our hardware, so when we
learned about the Microsoft financing capabilities we were sold on the
convenience. This is by far the best and most flexible financing
solution we’ve used for purchasing our software and services.”
When
the company’s local licensing agreement for Microsoft Office was near
expiration, it took a fresh approach to upgrading to the latest releases
of Microsoft Office and the Windows Server operating system. Steria
signed several Volume Licensing contracts, taking advantage of Microsoft
Financing to spread out the payments over three years and schedule them
to correspond more closely to its software deployment. Ramped payments
that began low and increased over time were particularly helpful.
"Using
Microsoft Financing made it easy to update our enterprise agreement,”
says Phillip Cournot, purchasing officer at Steria. "We were able to get
the IT solution we need now and pay for it at a later date with
flexible payments.”
Steria isn’t the only
business looking for financing options. According to IDC, financing for
IT equipment has grown faster than straight IT expenditures, with the IT
financing market expected to reach $139 billion in 2014. IDC also
suggests that the software financing market alone will reach $42 billion
in 2014.
Because
managing cash flow is top of mind for many businesses, structuring
payments is as important as the solutions and services being financed.
Microsoft Financing offers payment schedules on a monthly, quarterly or
semiannual basis for 12- to 60-month periods, without requiring a large,
up-front cash deposit. Purchases can instead be financed over the life
of the asset or product agreement. Customers have the option of ramped
payments or skipped payments to help align IT costs with budget, cash
flow and deployment schedules.
Providing
further flexibility, Microsoft Financing allows customers to add new
products, services or upgrades to existing contracts as needed to
finance a total evolving solution into one payment. Through Total
Solution financing, customers can manage the entire cost of their
technology investment, such as enterprise agreement, IT services and
hardware, into a single payment structure.
A New Angle for Partners
At
the start of the new year, technology vendors also are evaluating their
business. Beyond straight sales, financing solutions can be factored
into the mix as a way to boost revenue and reach 2012 goals. Nearly 500
Microsoft partners have attached Microsoft Financing to sales in this
Microsoft fiscal year to date.
Microsoft
partners play a pivotal role in helping customers understand their
options as they consider new software and services, and that includes
guiding customers through the financing resources available to
them. When flexible financing is available, customers may be more
willing to implement total solutions all at once rather than make
smaller technology purchases over longer periods of time. For vendors,
these larger financed implementations ultimately can help increase
revenue and contribute to a steady cash flow.
"We had one customer who was deliberating for six months,” says Steve Hall, CEO, District Computers
in Washington, D.C. "We introduced Microsoft Financing into the
conversation, and the customer signed the deal two weeks later.” By
taking advantage of Microsoft Financing, District Computers has
increased the size of its average sale by 50 percent, accelerated the
sales process by weeks and deepened customer relationships.
The SmartPay
portal makes it easy for partners to obtain quotes for customers,
streamlining the financing process and providing a wealth of tools and
resources to help partners understand the offerings. (See sidebar for
other useful resources.)
"Companies looking to buy IT out of operational budgets instead of capital expenses need a way to bridge the gap,” Eisner says. "With Microsoft Financing, customers don’t have to compromise or wait until later to implement the technologies they need today. We’re here to help them get the right product mix now to set them up for future success.”
"Companies looking to buy IT out of operational budgets instead of capital expenses need a way to bridge the gap,” Eisner says. "With Microsoft Financing, customers don’t have to compromise or wait until later to implement the technologies they need today. We’re here to help them get the right product mix now to set them up for future success.”
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