IBM touts e-business to small companies

IBM has initiated an e-business accreditation scheme for resellers and is fragmenting its SME sector to include smaller businesses as it attempts to keep sales afloat in an increasingly saturated market.

The vendor has recruited 800 resellers to push IBM e-business into companies with between one and 50 employees - which it has dubbed very small businesses - and has a dedicated team of in-house telesales and business developers to provide the resellers with support as they venture into the subsector.

As the SME supply market fast approaches gridlock, IBM is trying to push its systems and services further down the line. The accreditation scheme for its band of e-business resellers will be branded in January, but its main thrust will be to sell IT expertise around the euro, year 2000, supply chain management and e-commerce.

Tosca Colangeli, sales and marketing manager of IBM small and medium business, said the small business sector was worth #100 million in revenue to IBM, two thirds of which was very small businesses. The figure is expected to double next year.

She conceded IBM does not have familiarity with small businesses, nor does it have a reputation for being interested in concerns other than corporate.

'This is phase one of the campaign. We expect to recruit another 500 e-business resellers this year,' Colangeli said, adding there was no minimum level of business required of the resellers.