BANGALORE, INDIA: It is today commonly accepted that in a successful business, the organization needs to turn technology investments into a strategic asset that increases productivity, reduces costs, and creates new revenue sources.

However, building a successful strategy involves a structured process rather than simply stemming from instinct or experience - businesses need to blend theory and practice. Larger enterprises often implement an extensive network approach, but smaller businesses that don’t have as many resources are at a disadvantage when they take a piecemeal approach to network design.

In fact for a growing business, managing IT expenses is a big challenge. Supporting multiple technologies stretches a small IT department to its limits.

Today, the network is seen as a strategic asset for the business and the need for higher availability, security, and reliability is constantly increasing. Delivering what SMBs require to achieve a converged, multifaceted network takes specialized knowledge and skills in a growing list of advanced technologies that includes security, voice, wireless LAN, and storage networking. However it is not very often that SMBs are able to strategize how these technology deployments could give them an edge over their competitors.

At this point, it is wise for SMBs to turn to their IT vendor. Typically, SMBs should look for partners who understand their business and offer clear and competitive solutions, mapped to realistic performance expectations. Therefore, when choosing a technology partner it is essential for SMB’s to discern their vendors capabilities, not only in terms of offerings and/or after-sales services but also as a reliable partner, who at every step will be able to provide solutions and advocacy that would add to their business’s competitive advantage.

SMBs often think and rethink before making technology investments especially in a climate that discourages capital expenditure. This demand has brought about the need for solutions and services to be bundled in such a way that it offers maximum benefit to the buyer. IT vendors also not only provide networking solutions but also assist with added benefits like financing, giving SMBs timely access to the technology they need.

Another concern for SMBs is that they need to take a longer term, more strategic view of their technology. To overcome this, they should opt for a more structured approach to managing their technology over time - one that avoids the need for costly, wholesale upgrades. Here technology networking partners help by building in technology migration options that enable customers to keep pace with technology developments without making major cash investments, or at least limit further expenses to only having to pay for minor upgrades rather than entire architectural restructuring.

The need for IT is undoubtedly central to the business strategy of SMBs as they expand their networks in size, business utility, and strategic value. Yet when they continue to use traditional short-term approaches to network support, the results can include lost productivity, unrealized network potential, and competitive disadvantage. As a result, there has been an increase in the need for consultative services that link business and technology.

Looking ahead, we see the world evolving to a place where networking is intelligent and where the network plays a vital role in helping to improve business performance and processes. SMBs want to be part of this evolution, and huge market opportunity exists for IT vendors. In the SMB space - according to a recent AMI Partners report, there are 7.4 million SMBs in India; SMBs also make up more than 99 per cent of global firms and contribute greater than 50 per cent to global IT spending.

The network is a strategic platform and works better when services, together with products, create solutions aligned with business needs. IT vendors that can help integrate people, information, and ideas will be able to transition to not just being a partner but a trusted advisor.

The author is Sr. VP South and Sri Lanka, Cisco India and SAARC.