ITU 03: Alcatel and HP think small

Alcatel and HP have jumped on the bandwagon of providing pay-as-you-go IT services and support, targeting small businesses around the world by partnering with telcos.

Like others, notably salesforce.com, the companies are preaching the convenience of using off-the-shelf bundles of software, hardware and connectivity. France Telecom is the first telco to pin its flag to the initiative.

Speaking at the launch of Alcatel and HP's Ready Office programme at ITU 2003 in Geneva, HP CEO Carly Fiorina emphasised that running a small business is all about risk-taking and the use of IT to gain competitive advantage.

"But [small businesses] are not willing to take a risk on their technology," she said.

A fully outsourced, pay-per-use model is attractive to SMEs - specifically defined as SMBs by the two vendors - because at the moment IT is "often still too unreliable, complex and expensive", she added.

SMEs make up the majority of most developed economies but are traditionally hard for the major technology providers to target. Analysts Gartner calculate the sector spends $300bn every year on fixed and mobile telecoms alone.

Alcatel CEO Serge Tchuruk called the bundling of IT and communications technologies "unique". Other equipment vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia are also increasingly trying to do more than supply kit, from PBXes for corporate phone systems to high-end networking gear.

Alcatel admitted operators and customers at user organisations are expecting more from it than just equipment these days, though the Ready Office move will see the vendor draw on its customer premise- and network-based offerings.

HP claims to be the number one provider of IT to SMBs, generating over a quarter of its revenue from the sector.