We’re already well into 2018, so your customers will no doubt be wanting to make good on the New Year’s resolutions they’ve made for their business. For most SMEs, that will probably mean using digital technology to revolutionise the organisation: developing new ways of working, getting closer to customers and powering growth.
The rapid expansion of cloud computing, for example, offers huge benefits that your customers will not be able to ignore. In fact, according to IDC, cloud computing spending is expected to grow at better than six times the rate of IT spending through 2020. By putting business applications, critical data and key infrastructure in the cloud, there is an undeniable organisational agility and a competitive advantage waiting to be unlocked.
But there’s something in the way
For many of your customers, the main barrier to achieving their digital ambitions will be legacy IT. Outdated systems, particularly onsite infrastructure, are costly to maintain and cannot scale to meet business growth without expensive upgrades. What’s more, they usually lack robust backup measures in the event of an outage.
All of these issues compound to limit a business’s ability to use technology to accelerate growth. They cannot take advantage of crucial efficiency-boosting applications. They cannot easily or reactively add or remove capacity if demand requires. And because maintenance of legacy IT infrastructure often involves one-off costs (as opposed to the monthly subscription fees usually offered by most cloud services), it is much more difficult to manage from a budget perspective.
You are well placed to help your customers
The good news is that, as a channel partner, you’re in a good position to help businesses overcome the hurdles presented by legacy IT. By providing customers with access to cloud platforms, you can give them the tools they need to realise their digital ambitions. This will allow them to implement new apps, launch new services and take advantage of new ways to improve their businesses productivity and effectiveness.
But, in order to go beyond the hype and start having legitimate sales conversations around cloud, you need to understand how cloud technology specifically aligns with your customers’ needs.
That’s where we can help. In our new eGuide, we’ve pulled together some tips on how you can best make the business case for cloud computing in a language that will resonate with your target market. This way, you can help your customers keep their New Year’s resolutions to revolutionise their organisation.
To get advice on how to make the business case for cloud to your customers, read our free eGuide, How to Capitalise on the Digital Revolution.
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