Vendors are making virtualisation more complex than it really is and scaring off small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from investing in the technology, says Stratus African regional director, Dick Sharod.
SMEs need solutions that offer them quick returns on their investments (ROI), explains Sharod, but vendors shouldn't get away with offering these smaller players reduced value.
He argues that SMEs need cost-cutting technology, like virtualisation, but can't afford it in the current economic environment. They are, however, planning to invest in it once the market recovers and vendors should see them as valued customers.
“SMEs are the customers that need the most attention from technology vendors and will be loyal to any company that takes notice of their challenges,” says Sharod.
“Many of our customers miss a vital benefit of virtualisation by buying hardware and other technologies that allow too much headroom for growth.”
He adds this is a wise approach in certain environments and in larger enterprises, but not the right approach for smaller companies, especially when virtualisation allows them to scale their environment easily and cost-effectively. The technology is only likely to become properly useful in a couple of years' time and as such, extend the time taken for the investment to be repaid.
“If companies buy a solution that makes sense (size-wise) today and plans their virtualisation environment in such a way that they can easily add additional hardware capacity, or redeploy existing capacity as and when needed, they will begin seeing reward from their investments sooner,” he says.
Following this approach, SMEs will be more prepared than their competitors when they do roll-out their virtualisation campaign, believes Sharod. “This will ensure their ROIs are well on track and will minimise their project completion times,” he concludes.
Related stories:
Platform tackles SME tech costs
iBurst eyes SME sector
Risk shakes up the cloud
Share