Solution 6 brings bundled ASP services to small business

Solution 6 Holdings Limited, a world leading provider of IT solutions to professional service firms, and innovator in ASP services, today launched a range of fixed-cost ASP bundles for its Centrum ASP Service designed for small to medium sized Australian companies.

The new bundles include all the hardware, software and network components needed to run a small business. Designed for 10 users, the offering includes SAP-based financial management software, collaborative e-mail, a pre-configured company Intranet, 10 PC Pentium III PCs, Telstra Big Pond Intranet frame relay access and associated network hardware, staff training, and data migration.

Affordable for Small Business

According to Kent Duston, Solution 6's ASP Services general manager, "These new ASP Starter Packs are a breakthrough in the ASP market. For the first time, small businesses are able to obtain their complete IT infrastructure in a pre-configured fixed-price package. The bundle includes everything from the PC to the software to the network, at a price of $4200 per month for 10 users." "Solution 6 recognises that IT services can be confusing and expensive for many small and medium size businesses. These new packages simplify the IT decision making process," Mr Duston said.

The bundle is based on Solution 6's Centrum ASP service. Included are three eFinancials users (powered by SAP R/3), ten eCollaborate mail, calendaring and scheduling users, ten eIntranet users, a pre-configured company Intranet powered by Lotus Domino technology. IBM Pentium III PCs are provided for ten staff, along with network services from Telstra. The subscription charge includes all software, and hardware and maintenance costs.

"This will produce a revolution in the IT market," said Mr Duston. "A company can now subscribe to Solution 6's Centrum ASP service, confident in the knowledge that they have fixed their IT costs for a period. The system is pre-configured and ready to run, yet can be customised to individual requirements if necessary."

Services Included

In addition to providing the hardware, software and networking, the bundle includes data migration services and introductory staff training, provided by Solution 6 and its ASP implementation partners. "Services can be the hidden cost in IT implementations," said Mr Duston. "To ensure our customers are able to gain the benefits of sophisticated applications without the pain of unexpected costs, the services needed to begin using the systems are included in the price."

Additional services - such as advanced training courses and software customisation - are available through Solution 6's network of Centrum consulting and implementation partners.

Extender Packs

For larger or more diverse organisations, a number of Extender Packs have been launched, allowing customers to add more staff, additional branches, and extra functionality at a fixed cost. An example is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) pack, which adds integrated CRM capabilities for 10 users at $995 per month.

"The pre-configured nature of these extender packs allows companies to grow and develop in a very cost-effective manner," said Mr Duston. "Adding another branch, or deciding to improve customer satisfaction through adoption of the eCustomer system, is both easy and completely predictable in terms of cost."

Reliability and Availability

As is the case with standard Solution 6 Centrum offerings, the new Starter Packs are delivered using the reliable networking capabilities of Big Pond Intranet, and are powered by IBM's AS/400 server hardware. Service reliability of 99.95% is promised as part of the standard Centrum service level agreement. The new Starter Packs are available immediately and can be ordered direct from Solution 6, or via any Solution 6 Centrum partner.