'Small businesses are most underserved'

On December 31, 2008, Dell revamped its business structure, moving from a region-focussed model to focussing on key customers across large corporations, government and small businesses. The last segment may offer Dell plenty of growth opportunities, Steve Felice, chief of its small and medium business (SMB) unit, tells Rahul Sachitanand. Excerpts:

Q. What is the market opportunity in small businesses?
A. The SMB market is one of the most underserved parts of the market. It is fragmented, with over 70 million companies, but collectively they spend more on technology than any other sector. According to market researcher IDC, total SMB spending is expected to grow from $510.7 billion in 2008 to $675.1 billion in 2013.

Q. How are you chasing this opportunity?
A. The small business market is more than just low-cost products. SMBs want assistance in making IT simpler and they want comprehensible product packages, which are easy to install and maintain. We’ve launched a series called the Vostro range, tailored to this segment’s specific requirements and we also offer services such as remote monitoring to enable us to watch a small business’ IT assets.

Q.How does cloud computing work for SMBs?
A. I think we’re still in the embryonic stage of software as a service. It looks like a compelling offering, but at the same time SMBs are cautious on new forms of IT usage. I think for the moment they will take a more hybrid model to IT, until they get more comfortable with working off the web.