Where Are The Specialists?

Do you go to your electronics dealer if you want to buy a car? Obviously not!
Then why should a customer go to a networking solution provider (SP) if he wants
to build or enhance a security infrastructure for his organization?

But that is what is happening all around us. When an entrepreneur or the
technical head of an SMB customer wants to accentuate his IT infrastructure, he
simply calls the person who has provided him the hardware or software for the
system. The said SP might not be well equipped with the knowledge on subject but
will still try to cater to the client's needs.

This is usually to buffer his topline by pushing the higher priced products
at a reasonably decent margin. But God help him if the solution he has provided
to the client fails. That is because he will have the client breathing down his
neck and in all probability will not get much of a support from the vendor while
not having more than the basic know-how about the entire solution he has
provided.

There are two reasons why the customer approaches the SP in the first place.
One is because he is comfortable dealing with a single source for all his IT
needs, the way most of us are comfortable going to a mall and purchasing
groceries, garments, suitcases and the kitchen sink as well.

Vinita Bhatia

The second reason is because there is a dearth of vendor neutral SPs in the
country. Even the so-called specialists who might be on the horizon have taken
piecemeal bits of information from various vendors they have aligned with and
can at best provide a mish mash solution. Ask them if they can plug in some of
the components of the system with that of a brand that they are not selling and
they get squeamish.

So why is it that SPs who are always talking about wanting to move up the
value chain are not trying to equip themselves with the holistic knowledge of
any business aspect of IT that they would like to specialize in? Yes, it is a
risky proposition to not be a jack-of-all-trades. There is a chance that by the
time a partner gets all the gyan on one aspect of the business, the dynamics of
that business or those peripheral business attached to it might have changed
completely. After all, no one likes to put all their eggs in one basket.

But isn't smart business all about evolving oneself and being able to pick on
the right verticals to focus on? In a land which boasts of the highest numbers
of entrepreneurs, it is a shame not to find too many vendor neutral specialists
in the country. If there are any out there, I sure would like to hear from them.
Just to know that there is still some hope for the true breed of SPs as they are
supposed to be.

Vinita Bhatia

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in