Many SA small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are overspending on Internet connectivity because of an erroneous perception that leased line connectivity is beyond their budgets.
So says Pat Wallace, director and co-founder of Interprise, a Sandton-based Internet service provider (ISP), which e-business infrastructure provider IS (Internet Solutions) has appointed as a Value Add Partner (VAP).
IS introduced its VAP programme to enable the company - SA leading ISP - to roll out and support its connectivity offerings, and e-commerce services, within the SME market.
"Any small to medium-sized company spending more than R3 500 a month on dial-up Internet connectivity should be looking at more flexible and cheaper leased line solutions," she says.
"IS`s Access on Demand service, for example, which provides pre-paid Internet access via a permanent Internet connection, can open up all the business connectivity benefits currently enjoyed by larger enterprises. These range from always-on Internet connectivity, to access to key Internet-based business services which enable e-commerce initiatives," says Johnny Martins, IS Affiliation Account Manager.
"We chose Interprise as a VAP because of the company`s technical skills which are essential for supporting smaller enterprise, as well as its industry focus and complementary IT offerings.
"Businesses serviced by our VAPs don`t have the skills required to roll out and manage basic information technology systems such as LANs and e-mail which are a pre-requisite to making use of the services such as Access on Demand. Our VAPs must therefore be equipped to provide these skills."
E-mail services and e-commerce initiatives are not the only market drivers for affordable, always-on Internet connectivity in the SME environment. The sector is also using an increasing number of sophisticated business services over the Internet such as online banking, fax-over-Internet and information services.
"Once a business has eight or more users trying to access Internet services, dial-up connectivity becomes impractical and prohibitively expensive," Wallace adds.
"By using IS`s Internet service offerings, these companies can have access to a world-class Internet infrastructure and industry-leading value-added solutions such as hosting and security."
Interprise, which has established in1999 to provide Internet connectivity and e-mail services for SMEs, has more than 1300 domains on its servers.
Its products and services include domain registration, hosting (standard and database), analogue and ISDN dial-ups, leased lines, server hosting and search engine registration.
"Our success is based on building close relationships with our clients while simultaneously delivering the high technology solutions they require to be part of the e-economy, " Wallace concludes.
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