Technology Reseller v44

technologyreseller.co.uk 31 MSP Embracing product lifecycle management with smart finance I think we’ve all heard of the circular economy. To quote Chatham House, “The circular economy means moving away from the world’s current – and enormously wasteful – economic model of ‘take, make, throw away’, in which resources are extracted, turned into products, used, and discarded 7 .” In the IT industry, that means retrieving technology at the end of its usage period with the original customer and then disposing of it responsibly. In some cases, that may mean final disposal (to waste), but in most cases there will be an opportunity to strip down older tech, restore and refurbish it, and then resell it to secondary markets. One of the most critical trends that the recent crisis has accelerated is the move to acquiring technology solutions via an ‘as-a-service’ model. Corporate mindsets have been shifted by early pioneers in this space, and now it is rapidly becoming the norm of what to expect from technology solutions. Most buyer organisations are looking for as-a- service arrangements when acquiring or upgrading their enterprise technology– comprising a combination of hardware, software and service components. Of course, the managed service approach (paying a monthly fee for use of a technology solution) cannot be achieved without the kind of smart finance that Siemens Financial Services (SFS) provides. It is the essential enabler, bridging the reseller’s need for up-front payment and the end client’s desire for spread payments which align to the benefits they will gain from the solution. Adding in product retrieval and disposal is straightforward when you’re dealing with a specialist financier like SFS. Our collective expertise and knowledge about how those corporate technology solutions work in practice means that we can procure a finance structure that exactly fits the end client. This is available to our reseller partners, of any size. Now that customers are all formulating their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies, being able to incorporate product recycling into the total ownership package can be an important sales advantage. Legal responsibilities (see boxout) can be converted into a ‘sustainable solutions’ sell. This is even more so if it can all be wrapped up into a single finance arrangement – ‘total systems lifecycle management’ – embraced into a payment plan that guarantees consistent pricing across the finance period – no price rises, no hidden surprises. After all everyone wants to be cash- light – OEM, reseller and customer alike. Everyone wants to have their working capital available to fund market opportunities, acquisitions and so on, not tied up in supporting on-premises equipment. So, the role of the finance partner has never been so important. Not every finance provider can offer smart, tailored support. A specialist, such as SFS, offers reseller partners reliability in all market conditions, an appetite for multi-OEM solutions (captives still concentrate on their own products), a range of finance tools (across leasing, hire-purchase, loans, receivables structures, for example), specialist technology knowledge, easy, digital processes, and the ability to procure exactly the right finance structure for each end-customer – including end of life disposal. If you would like to offer your customers this kind of exciting package – incorporating responsible product lifecycle management, contact me: www.linkedin.com/in/robert-inchley- 02909a4 / IT Product Disposal Responsibilities If you manufacture, distribute or sell electrical and electronic equipment such as computers, fridges, mobile phones, EU and national laws require that you contribute to ensuring it is disposed of and treated properly. This means: • Registering with the responsible national authorities (“registers”) in each country where you distribute or sell equipment. • Filing a regular report on the amount of sold electrical and electronic equipment. • Organising or financing the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of your products. • As a distributor, providing a take-back service, whereby your customers can return electric and electronic waste free of charge. • As a manufacturer, complying with the directive on the restriction of hazardous substances. Waste generated by such products is referred to as WEEE: Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment. You can find an indicative list of equipment that falls under the related laws in the directive on WEEE 8 . Rob brings over 25 years’ experience in technology finance to the Siemens Financial Services team. His time in the technology sector has allowed him to build up in-depth knowledge and understanding of a wide portfolio of financial products, primarily within the IT and telecommunications business fields. 1 Such as https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/pricing-and-offers 2 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/announcements/2021-october 3 https://noblue.co.uk/news-updates/software-as-a-service-saas-industry-trends/ 4 https://www.conductor.com/learning-center/uk-b2b-saas-trends-2021/ 5 https://www.itproportal.com/features/leading-saas-trends-to-watch-for-in-2021/ 6 Such as: https://www.bmc.com/blogs/saas-growth-trends/ ; https://www.itproportal.com/ features/leading-saas-trends-to-watch-for-in-2021/; https://www.bdo.global/en-gb/blogs/ tech-media-watch-blog/march-2021/how-covid-is-changing-the-saas-vertical-software- landscape-for-m-a 7 https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/06/what-circular-economy 8 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX: 32012L0019 Rob Inchley gives his views on: