July 23, 2007
IBM discovers SMB market (again); reorganizes to serve it (again)
It looks like another slow-moving thought has finally penetrated the big blue shield, sending a small army of blue deck chair arrangers into action. According to the good folks at IDG, "IBM shakes up sales organization to target SMB market"
IBM is realigning its Systems and Technology Group (STG), creating one sales group to sell to large enterprise customers and another to sell to SMBs, business customers with no more than 1,000 employees. It will also better integrate STG with IBM's Global Technology Service (GTS) group and with companies in its Global Business Partners Organization, and design products specifically for the needs of SMBs. ... A new level of sales management will be created within each of 220 geographic sales territories IBM operates globally.
IBM is right on one count - smaller businesses and their VARs shouldn't have to negotiate the complex alphabet soup of IBM's organization to get what they need. But neither should their larger customers. No vendor should make customers jump through such hoops to do business.
What worries me more is this part:
The sales reorganization coincides with the introduction of new products designed to appeal to SMBs, including blade servers, he said. IBM announced June 13 the coming BladeCenter S system that is packaged to include server, storage, input-output connections to a network and software integrated into a single chassis.
Sure, if SMBs need special organization, they must also need special products. That's been Ipswitch's view since day one. But do you really think IBM is going to be able to come up with products that are right for smaller businesses? This blade thingy sounds like a typical giant's misguided attempt to cater to the little guy, replacing a thousand points of contact with a single point of failure. SMB IT folks are sophisticated enough to choose best of breed solutions for each of their critical needs, and IBM should learn that in another 20 years or so.
Posted by David Karp
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Comments
Yes, but I think this is disputable post.
Posted by caleb4 on April 09, 2008
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Don’t know what to say. At first it looked good but now I’m very disappointed in this kind of information
Posted by Lofton316 on April 06, 2008