IBM tempts partners with $4bn financing opportunity

Vendor hopes more of its channel network will make the most of options available through its IGF arm

IBM is urging its UK partner network to take advantage of the whopping $4bn (£2.4bn) credit opportunity it is offering the channel.

Last year, IBM's Global Financing arm (IGF) took the wraps off a new financing app aimed at UK partners to help them seal crucial deals in minutes and avoid the headache of wrangling over complex finance terms.

Running over multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows and BlackBerry), partners are able to use the app to obtain quotes, request credit checks and send contracts - all of which can be completed in less than 10 minutes.

However, Big Blue is hoping even more partners will grab the financing opportunity open to them in 2014.

Ajay Khindria (pictured), director of IBM Global Financing, which operates in 55 countries and has 125,000 customers, told CRN: "We are in a position to give more funding to our channel partners and help them take more of our solutions out to their clients."

He explained that partners use funding in a couple of ways: financing products/services they want to buy from IBM, or setting up a finance agreement for their own customers to use.

Khindria stressed the deal was not just limited to IBM products: "Our financing covers both IBM components and non-IBM components," he said.

To qualify for funding, partners and their customers will need to go through a simple validation process where credit checks are performed, but once accepted, there is no limit on the size of the deal. They can range from £5,000 upwards, with special bespoke packages arranged for larger deals.

"There is a real opportunity for our partners," Khindria said. "Financing alternatives are still of interest to many businesses in this economic climate. I don't know any organisation that doesn't borrow."

Ian Campbell, director of solution provider CSI, lauded the benefits of financing. "Using IBM Global Financing gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace, enabling us to offer clients a financing solution which is not only attractive and flexible but covers the total solution including the IBM components and our own," he said.

"Financing also helps us provide a more strategic solution for the client - spreading the cost enables our client to acquire all the technology they need now, getting the value for their business sooner and a faster return on investment. And a further benefit for us, of course, is that when we finance we receive payment from IGF very quickly - typically within a week of the deal closing - which has a significant impact on our cashflow."