Nearly half (46 percent) of small and medium businesses said they turn to VARs or systems integrators for help in determining IT needs and/or selecting specific technology solutions, according to new data from the Technology Practice at Chadwick Martin Bailey.
The research firm surveyed 417 IT decision makers from U.S.-based SMBs (with 1-499 employees) about their attitudes toward VARs, systems integrators and IT solution providers. One hundred ninety-one SMBs said they use VARs and systems integrators.
Of that group, one in four said they depended heavily on recommendations from such companies, ranking the reliance on such advice at seven on a scale of zero to 10, where zero is “very little” and 10 is “a lot.” One in five rated VARs’ counsel at five on the scale. (See chart below.)
Nearly half (49 percent) said they look for local help while only 12 percent said they preferred regional or national companies. The votes also were split on the size of the organization, though by a smaller margin; 17 percent said they use small shops and 11 percent use large organizations.
Chris Neal, technology practice leader at Chadwick Martin Bailey, said he suspects the attraction to local VARs has a lot to do with face time and the perception that they have faster response times when emergencies do arise. “Additionally, local VARs are sometimes less expensive for more standard maintenance/support contracts than national VARs; and for SMBs who perceive that their needs are fairly basic/standard, a local VAR may suit them just fine for what they need 95 percent of the time,” explained Neal. “They may only turn to larger, national VARs with deeper pools of IT expertise when they have a major and complex technology transition they need deal with.”
Still, according to the survey, SMBs’ use of VARs ranges from point solutions to comprehensive IT consulting. Nearly one-third (28 percent) of SMBs said their VAR specializes in a particular technology, e.g. PBX. One in five respondents said their VAR supports all of their company’s technology needs.
Thirty-seven percent of SMBs polled said they use a vendor-neutral VAR, so it can suggest solutions and brands that fit the company’s needs. Sixteen percent said they choose vendor-specific VARs because they are experts in the company’s preferred brands.
On cost versus value scale, VARs scored similarly. About one in five (21 percent) respondents said their VAR or systems integrator is likely to offer the solution with the lowest possible upfront cost while about one in six (14 percent) said it is likely to offer the most advanced solution available.
Neal said that although Chadwick Martin Bailey isn’t in the business of forecasting, he believes the complexity and number of IT solutions will drive SMBs to increasingly turn to technology channel partners in the future. The countertrend to this, he said, is utility computing and SaaS. “Our survey of SMBs, however, indicates that only 14 percent of SMBs say they are more likely to subscribe to SaaS as opposed to purchasing on-site licenses,” he explained. “This will vary greatly by which application we’re talking about, but it suggests that SMBs tend to favor amortizable capex investments (i.e., software licenses) as opposed to ongoing/endless opex subscription fees. Given these two opposing trends, and if I were a betting man (which I’m not) ... I certainly don’t see the need for VARs and SIs going away anytime soon, and I highly suspect that SMB usage of them will likely increase, at least in the short term.”
