While it is generally acknowledged how important the network is to a large corporation, businesses that operate in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector are equally dependant on strong IT infrastructure.
The chief difference is that SMEs need to acquire such infrastructure with a limited budget. It is for this reason that Reflex Solutions has developed an offering to provide this market with the type of skills normally reserved for big business, but at SME market prices.
“Reflex is able to provide all the IT, telecoms and connectivity requirements for the SME market. In other words, everything from their networking and servers though to the desktop environment. We can also offer PABX, least cost routing, WAN and Internet connectivity, as well as security, office automation and e-mail. In addition, Reflex provides offsite hosting and disaster recovery and business continuity services,” says Greg Wilson, CEO at Reflex.
“Quite literally, we can deliver everything they will need in respect of IT and telecoms. Not only does this offer the SME a single point of contact, but our service level agreements (SLAs) are specifically designed to suit this market. They are crafted in such a way that we do not receive payment if their network fails to operate properly, making it equally in our best interests to manage it well.”
Wilson points out that there are additional cost savings too. For example, such businesses would no longer need to employ an IT manager, as Reflex plays the management role instead.
“This means that SMEs can free up resources to focus on their core business instead. Perhaps most importantly, Reflex is the only company in SA that can offer this implementation and management service on a national scale. This is particularly important for SMEs that may have more than one office around the country,” he says.
He indicates that the recent acquisition of 3Com by HP should also have a positive impact on this sector. Wilson states that Reflex will be able to leverage its status as an HP Partner to the benefit of the SME market. He says that with 3Com already having a large number of products aimed at this market, the acquisition will bolster HP's operations in the SME space. In addition, because Reflex can offer an end-to-end HP solution, SMEs obtain the benefits of the better pricing structures that can be leveraged from a single vendor.
“I believe that the real benefit Reflex offers to this market segment is that our skills have been built in the enterprise space, so SMEs get the advantage of enterprise-level proficiency at SME prices. Also, we have developed standards that can easily be implemented, such as a basic, standardised IT policy. This means that instead of developing such policies from scratch, they can obtain the benefit of our enormous intellectual capital at a significantly lower cost.”
Wilson says that another advantage Reflex has is its vast experience in the ISP space. This means that the company has the ability to deliver proper remote connectivity to its customers. In other words, IT problems can mostly be resolved remotely, without the need to send a technical resource out to the client. This is more efficient and less costly, so it is an ideal offering for the cost-conscious SME market.
“The advantages Reflex offers to the SME market are incalculable. We structure our SLAs to suit them, we offer a turnkey solution with a national footprint to back it up, and our service offering is designed to help the SME to facilitate future growth. When it comes to this market segment, the bottom line is the be all and end all - and everything Reflex is able to offer SMEs will have a positive impact on their bottom line,” concludes Wilson.
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