IBM opens finance doors to UK software partners

Vendor explains how its UK partners can get their hands on a share of the $1bn financing it unveiled this month

IBM has revealed how UK partners can get their hands on much-needed SMB software financing as part of the vendor's $1bn injection.

Last week, Big Blue announced it is making the extra cash available to encourage hard-pressed SMBs to spend on areas like analytics and cloud.

Codenamed Costbuster in the UK, IBM’s software partners will be able to access customer financing for a suite of 30 specific products, including products that have traditionally been classed as enterprise-level, such as Cognos and Cast Iron.

Mark Barrett, business partner and sales leader for software at IBM, said: “This is the continuation of IBM’s commitment to invest in partners and their key role in growing the SMB software business for us.”

Earlier this month, IBM revealed it intends to build its software business – worth $9.5bn in 2010 – to $17bn by 2015. Partners will play a major role in that growth, specifically in the SMB space.

A study carried out by the Obama administration in the US revealed that 50 per cent of small businesses failed within five years of formation, mainly due to lack of capital.

“These small companies represent 65 per cent of global GDP and 90 per cent of the world’s work force. If 50 per cent of those are failing, there are a lot of individual countries being affected by this and a lot of people in the workforce,” said Barrett.

He said the financing initiative will help smaller companies in the UK get attractive rates of finance – zero per cent for the first 12 months, and a low percentage for up to four years – which will help partners seal deals.

“There is no gotcha, or hidden Ts and Cs. And there is an extra bonus for partners because the products on offer through the finance initiative link into our 15 per cent Software Value Incentive (SVI) rebate offering,” he added.

UK partners simply need to apply for the financing on the IBM Partner World website through its Rapid Finance Tool, explained Barrett. Decisions will be made as fast as 60 seconds if the applicant is an existing approved customer, and the average decision time is 15 minutes.

“This empowers our partners because they can have a full end-to-end discussion with their customers and close a deal straight away. There is no having to go back and forth to the vendor partner, and customers are happy because they have a flexible payment option,” he said.