Companies are moving away from ad hoc financing on individual elements of their technology acquisitions to a more integrated approach which includes financing software and solutions, says IBM.
Arthur Kozak, IBM`s GM, global financing for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), says the global economic climate is getting tough, which creates a dilemma for companies.
On the one hand, there is a need to preserve cash and to manage cash flow properly, but on the other, with competition heating up, it is important to stay competitive, and that means investing in infrastructure and technology.
Whereas in the past financing was traditionally done for leasing hardware, there is increasingly a worldwide trend for the acquisition of software and services to be financed as well.
IBM research shows that in Europe the financing market will grow 13% in the next two years. Financing of software and services will grow 20%.
IBM Global Financing`s (IGF`s) approach in SA is slightly different from elsewhere, in that it focuses specifically on small to medium businesses, since the market is largely composed of these businesses.
IGF SA manager Pieter Els says the approach is essentially different only in the sense that the SME market is being targeted whereas it was neglected previously.
Kozak says whereas financing for large corporations usually involves a good deal of dialogue and specifically tailored packages, the SME market is normally serviced with packaged offerings.
Els says IGF is unique in offering integrated financing solutions, structuring various customer requirements for software, hardware and services financing into a single personalised package.
"There`s always room for a special offer, though. One that is running now is deferred payment until April 2002 combined with low financing rates on IBM eServer, iSeries and pSeries systems and IBM printers."
However, Kozak says financing is provided not only for IBM solutions, but also for solutions including non-IBM products. Rates are higher for financing solutions which have no IBM component.
The group has a portfolio of about $40 billion worldwide. Kozak says when a company has a portfolio of this size, it has to have good remarketing skills, which is an advantage IBM has.
He adds that the group is committed to SA, where it has established the only onshore IGF office in the EMEA region outside western Europe.
Although the office was established only recently, he says the response here to IBM`s financing offerings has been very encouraging.
Share
