Adding the value to global IT projects
by Marc Diligent, Director of Global Operations, Viadex Global
Any expanding business usually accepts that it needs the help of external specialists to propel its growth ambitions, from a tech perspective. Not all businesses realise, however, how much faster and smoother they can achieve the growth if they treat the use of external resources as something more than transactional, or one-off, events.
When an external services provider seeks a ‘partnership’, it’s not a sales ploy; it’s a pledge to deliver true value and explore opportunities for customers that they may not have thought of themselves…
Sometimes ‘local’ hampers global
The process of expanding in overseas territories can sometimes be very straightforward. You decide on the IT kit you need, you order it direct from the vendor or from a reseller, it arrives, you instal it, and you’re up and running. That’s just sometimes, and not many at that. A large proportion of such projects fails quickly or, more to the point, doesn’t start.
Surprisingly, the obstacles may come from the very organisations you wish to purchase from. These obstacles aren’t deliberately created. No provider or vendor wants to turn down business; it’s not in their DNA, but it is their terms of business. If you are beyond their geographical areas of operations, they will refer you onwards to a local supplier who is, if not directly located in your target territory, at least close by.
Then, depending on the country you wish to have the equipment set up in, you might well find that the local company you’ve been referred to simply does not have available inventory. Even if you decide to go the extra mile on your own behalf, and arrange for international shipment yourselves, you will still hit barriers in the form of import documentation and procedures, compounded by versions of compliance regulations you may have no familiarity with.
Global logistics, especially for IT equipment, are complicated
The network of companies that can help you cope with regulations, taxes, duties, permits, and local compliance is also not always as seamless as you may expect; more an informal association of companies who work together now and then. They will all want their own slice of the margin pie. To some of them along the way, your particular project—critical though it is to you—may be low on their priority list and since they don’t see you as a long-term business prospect, that is where it will stay. You’d be as well to factor in that your project will overrun its schedule and exceed its budget, so at least your expectations may coincide with the outcomes.
Global logistics are just one part of the challenge of global growth. With the hardware installed you will want to ensure that your systems are always capable of optimum performance, that your ability to serve dispersed users is best-in-class, and that your security is robust and up-to-date. You will want to put in place contingencies for business continuity and disaster recover; highly dependent on automated back-up. In short, you will want to consolidate and continuously improve your competitive advantage.
Companies are increasingly turning to the cloud to avail themselves of these services, hence the significant growth of the ‘…as a Service model. Back-up and Disaster Recovery are available as a Service, as are Infrastructure, Platform, Device, and many other IT requirements. All require careful consideration, as does your choice of cloud services provider. The cloud services market is itself a busy and potentially confusing market, ranging from the big well-known players and more ‘niche’ providers with the same capabilities but, it could be argued, the opportunity for individual customer organisations to assume greater importance in their client mix than they may do with the global superstars (‘big fishes and small ponds’ spring to mind).
How important is your business?
Complexity is one of the recurring themes that crops up in many conversations I have with Viadex customers. It often starts with considerations around the difficulties of managing global projects in as seamless a fashion as possible, and invariably moves on to the time taken up—and the admin around contracts and invoicing—with managing an ever-expanding portfolio of specialist suppliers.
This is where the value of partnerships is most relevant; the trust, reliability, and focus that comes from working with fewer contact points, or even just one. This is where Viadex has always focussed its own development path—form the realisation that once a global project has been completed is where the concentrated effort kicks in.
From a global perspective we understand the complexities that prevail in some 190 countries, that being the number of countries we have worked in. We now have established entities in Canada. Switzerland, Mexico, and China to extend our global reach with 7 more to be set up over the next 6 months.
We have also recently completed our 21/22 financial year (to end of June) which saw growth of 25%; one of our biggest growth years ever. We completed 2650 global projects in 21/22, across 83 countries, working on projects in every continent except Antarctica (“the coldest continent in the world, completely covered with ice. There are no permanent inhabitants, except scientists maintaining research stations”)1. Two major things have made this all possible: the confidence our customers have in us to resolve their problems and create opportunities, plus an expanding range of services.
We started out over 20 years ago with a focus on global logistics. That was then, this is now. In that time, we have become one of the leading providers in this highly specialised field. We have also worked alongside many long-standing clients who have supported us in our expertise expansion. Our global managed services division has been considerably built-out over the last five years such that, now, if an area of IT is available as a Service we supply it, and we monitor it globally.
Growth and expansion are a reflection of how well customers respond to the value you add. That’s our focus; adding value for every customer, because every customer is important to us. We’re not about transactions or fast bucks. We’re about support, advice, encouragement and global scope; proven, pragmatic, and personalised.
If you want the sort of deep value that really can be added by a reseller, and prefer to know that experts are on your side – from anywhere in the world to anywhere else – just email me and we can explore how Viadex can overcome your global challenges: marc.diligent@viadex.com
