Thousands of SMEs across the UK are making poor IT procurement decisions by failing to consider vital factors that could have massive cost implications.
A new report from office technology specialist Brother features the thoughts and advice of top tech journalists as well as leading tech bloggers and analysts.
The printer and multifunction manufacturer has also produced a video with leading tech journalist, Gordon Kelly, who met up with the company’s sales and marketing director, Phil Jones, to discuss the challenges faced by SMEs when purchasing IT.
Small firms want to keep costs to a minimum, but the research has shown that short-term thinking means that they are losing out by not considering significant issues, such as lifecycle cost or business efficiency.
Large corporations have IT directors who are responsible for IT strategy, the report shows that many SMEs have limited IT knowledge – most don’t employ a specialist in this area and this can often result in poor IT purchasing decisions.
The full research is available here:
http://www.slideshare.net/brotheruk/research-on-tech-procurement-for-smesYou can watch videos of Gordon Kelly and Phil Jones here:
http://www.brother.co.uk/g3.cfm/s_page/204260Quotes
Phil Jones, sales and marketing director, Brother UK
“SMEs need to stop and think before making IT purchasing decisions.
“Buying cheapest isn’t necessarily best. Small business owners really need to consider a wide range of factors, including lifecycle costs, reliability and support. Failing to do so could be costing them hundreds of pounds every year.
“For example, most companies automatically think that taking environmental issues into account will bump up costs, but good environmental practice can actually save businesses money.”
Boilerplate Statements
NB: All research conducted in conjunction with Coleman Parkes.
About Brother
Brother is a world wide electronics and manufacturing company, with sales in over 100 countries.
Originally founded in 1908 by the Yasui family in Nagoya, Japan, Brother now has production facilities and sales offices in 32 countries and regions around the world.
Although it started out producing sewing machines, Brother’s product range diversified considerably following its launch of the world’s first high speed dot-matrix printer in 1971. It is now best known as a producer of office technology products such as printers, fax machines, multi-function centres and label printers.
Today, the company manufactures a wide range of colour and mono, laser and inkjet printers and multifunction machines. In 2008 it launched the world’s first compact A3 multifunction inkjet machine and continues to innovate, producing new products every year.
