Bridging the knowledge gap
What most firms want out of convergence is a low-risk solution that will transform their business in the long-term. And when pitching the technology to different sectors, often the same rules apply, writes Simon Meredith in the last of our five-part series
When it comes to convergence, end-users are very averse to risk, according to Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca.
Many have a legacy system to worry about, and even more worry about finding themselves stuck with technology that is incompatible with that which will eventually become the standard. They also expect telephony solutions and other applications that are now finding their way onto the IP network, such as access control, intruder alarms and fire protection systems, to last a lot longer than the average lifecycle of a PC.
There are some rules that apply to all sectors of the market, says Lee Perkins, UK director at distributor Azlan. Selling convergence in any sector is about selling yourself. And in this market it is particularly important to practice what you preach, he says.
Perkins adds: “If you’ve just had an eye test and the bespectacled optician asks if you had ever thought of trying contact lenses, the first question that might enter your head is: ‘Why are you wearing glasses?’
“Those that operate in the IT sector are not that good at using the solutions they sell. That doesn’t always matter, but with convergence it makes a big difference, especially with smaller businesses. You need to show that you are so convinced of the benefits of convergence that you’ve had no hesitation in using the technology yourself.”
Smaller firms want to know that they can trust the solution so that supplier partnerships will matter, according to John Carter, managing director of BT distributor DMSL, which foc-uses primarily on SME business.
“Small businesses don’t want to know about the technology: they just want it to work,” he says.
“With voice calls, they don’t care if it’s over IP or analogue. If it saves them money and improves their productivity, they will buy it. However, they have to believe it will work and they have to trust both the VAR and the vendor. Having a big, trusted name behind you when you sell convergence is important.”
This view is echoed by Mark Blowers, senior research analyst at the Butler Group. He also believes it is important for resellers not to make outrageous claims and over-zealous prom-ises with regard to convergence.
“End-user expectations must be pragmatic and realistic,” Blowers says. “Given the long-term nature of this market, the selection of a technology partner or service provider must take the longevity of the organisation firmly into account.”
Whether they are large or small, customers need to be carefully guided down a path that will move them towards ‘long-term transformation’ as well as delivering a simple return on investment, according to Blowers.
“In most cases of successful convergence projects, ROI [return on investment] has arisen from transformation, rather than simple cost-cutting,” he says. “The strategic reasons for convergence should transcend pure infrastructure concerns, but they should nevertheless be firmly groun-ded in ROI.”
Enterprise and public-sector users are also risk-averse and likely to be skeptical at first, according to Perkins. “The bigger the business, the further they have to fall,” he says. “They are not going to go out on a limb with VoIP [voice over IP], fixed-mobile convergence or anything else for that matter. They need proof that it delivers. Selling to this kind of user is a matter of confidence.”
Andy Rawll, Avaya’s business manager for SME convergence, says attention to detail is what really counts, especially in the SME market. “When it comes to selling convergence, the little things matter,” he says. “VARs should avoid focusing on TCO [total cost of ownership] and try to understand the most significant business challenges.”
Rawll adds that resellers need to go back to basics with small firms.
“The core business of the SME is not implementing networks: it’s cutting hair, delivering packages, selling antiques, servicing cars or designing packaging,” he says. “Resellers should ignore the technology and return to customer profiling and qualification.”
Phil Gale, voice product manager at distributor Comstor UK, says that what you don’t sell is almost as important as what you do sell. “It is important to talk about how the solution can both make the customer more efficient and increase productivity.”
But resellers must resist “merely talking about product feature sets and running functional comparisons between products”, Gale adds. “Smaller businesses don’t really know what they want, other than a standard phone. However, they do know if they need to accommodate home workers, or cut rising phone bills.”
He claims that home working, call centre and ‘presence availability’, such as mobile and remote working solutions are all selling well in the SME sector at the moment.
While this is now starting to move beyond the early-adopter phase, a good deal of resistance to scrapping the older time division multiplexing (TDM) systems remains. This is something resellers need to take into consideration because voice is usually a higher priority than the data network for SMEs.
“If the phone systems go down, the average company starts to lose money and customers very rapidly. But that’s still not yet the case if the email goes down for a few hours,” Gale says.
With established SMEs, VARs may need to wait until existing maintenance agreements on TDM and PBX systems are close to expiry date before attempting to sell convergence technology, or for a major restructure that will mean rationalisaton or a merging of different functions.
For newer SMEs, the IP-based solutions market is very open. Having as many IP devices as possible on one network, with a central point of management, simply makes sense. And an increasing number of SME customers will, Blowers believes, want someone to take the whole messy business off their hands.
Resellers need to think seriously about managed services as an option for SME customers. As little up-front investment is needed, they are low-risk. This can offset the uncertainties associated with convergence.
“We expect that resellers that are able to incorporate a service provision element to their offerings will capture a significant market share of SME companies,” Blowers adds.
Higher up the scale, medium-sized companies are seen as the most likely early-adopters of VoIP and other converged applications as they look to drive down the cost of growth. They have to grapple with a number of issues at the same time, and by focusing on these areas, resellers can find sales opportunities, according to Andy Elliot, head of marketing services EMEA at Mitel.
Competitiveness, customer service levels, attracting and retaining staff and running communications across multiple sites are just some of the challenges that these companies face. Usually there is a dispersed and growing workforce, so the benefits of convergence of data and voice, fixed and mobile and other technologies, will be plain.
Blowers says: “Simple things such as implementing an organisation-wide telephone directory, being able to collaborate with staff in any office and the ability to centralise core activities, can reap major productivity benefits. Any business that has a mobile workforce needs to be confident that, despite working remotely, they have access to voicemail on the move, that they can log onto the system at any office and have full access to all of their personal features.”
Most large companies will have already started to make the transition to converged networks and applications. This means that they will understand the ROI benefits and the technology fairly well. Well-defined projects may already be underway but even so, they may still be at a fairly basic level in terms of their longer-term ambitions.
In short, larger enterprises are likely to be focused on the cost-saving aspects of convergence. However, if VARs can start enterprises thinking about these aspects, they may be able to open up potential for larger-scale long-term projects.
Enterprises need to be convinced of the long-term business-transformation potential, and its rather elusive potential benefits, that Blowers referred to earlier.
Ian Cook, chief executive of VAR Logicalis, says that if they have already started down the road to convergence it should be a little easier to convince them. “VoIP is the first logical step on the road to business agility and, for some, reducing the corporate phone bill will be enough,” he says.
“But for smart businesses, the migration to a converged voice and data network will act as the catalyst for the implementation of other enabling services.”
However, Tony Bailey,vice-president enterprise networks at Nortel, says that helping corporates to form a ‘vision’ of the future may not be enough. You might also need to have specific solutions that address large-scale needs.
“Resellers should look to knit together different technologies to put together a coherent solution,” he says. “For example, a customer that wishes to build a contact centre needs to source and integrate many products to deliver voice recording, voice recognition, call routing, CRM and IP telephony.
“This can be brought together only if they have the knowledge to source the right products, and the skills to integrate them effectively.”
Resellers do not wake up suddenly in possession of these skills, so strategic investment and business development is needed to make the most of convergence opportunities in the corporate market. Investment in training and resources will also be required if you are selling to the public sector.
Peter Tebbutt, UK marketing director at Alcatel, says the most important facet here is to understand specific customer needs.
“Resellers that are selling to the public sector need proven experience of this market and a detailed understanding of both voice and data networking. Solutions that address issues such as the Gershon factor, eGovernment and citizen interaction are critical,” he says.
If resellers are unfamiliar with the market and products, the chances of winning contracts are small. And while there are major projects to be won, VARs also need patience, Elliot claims.
“The public sector has proved to be very innovative in its approach to converged solutions. Some of our most interesting roll-outs have been at local councils” he says.
“But patience is the name of the game as the decision-making process can be fairly lengthy.”
Whichever market they are targeting, resellers need to build their capabilities with converged technologies and applications and make them an integral part of the networking sale, according to Perkins.
“For us, and for our channel partners, convergence is already built into everything we do,” he says.
“Selling it successfully is still about knowing the customer really well, and about having an understanding of the solutions so that VARs can match the former to the latter. Resellers need to make customers trust them and believe that convergence will deliver the benefits they are selling.”
But while all of this is important, Blowers notes, selling convergence is not easy. The benefits, other than cost reduction, are difficult to demonstrate. The Butler Group advises against selling on the basis that convergence will save money for businesses alone. Blower says it is not easy to work out exactly what VARs should be selling.
“The long-term benefits are likely to be more or less unique to each organisation that deploys some form of convergence. Once we move beyond the obvious benefits we are very much in uncharted waters,” he says.
To sell convergence successfully, resellers need to look at how the customer organisation can improve processes and be more flexible and dynamic when applications, technologies and networks are converged. Blowers claims that here there is a gap in the market that switched-on VARs should be able to exploit.
“Not all resellers have chosen to emphasise their capabilities in this regard, and are still clinging to the TCO way to promote their wares,” he says. “We believe that this is not only a serious mistake, but also a clear early indicator of the resellers that will thrive in this emerging market space.”
Cook agrees that VARs need to look beyond the obvious us essential to selling convergence now.
“Henry Ford once said: ‘If I’d listened to customers, I’d have given them a faster horse.’” Cook says. “Tomorrow’s successful businesses will be those with the foresight to see a different way of working: one that relies on new ways of thinking and a better more efficient way of working. Those who don’t, regardless of their size, will no doubt go the same way as the horse.”