|
|
Written by John Cromie
|
|
Sunday, 09 August 2009 11:38 |
Welcome to SMB iT Professionals! For the past six years or so, various organisations around Australia and New Zealand have become the focal point for IT service providers focusing on SMBs. In some places, these formed under the auspices of Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) User Groups. In others, they took a different path. Over time, however, we have come to realise that providing IT services to SMBs is a critical specialisation. And more importantly, we have come to realise that we need to have a regional presence and voice in order to best serve the needs of our members.
What are those needs? Well, most IT service providers focusing on SMBs are small companies, from one person operations up to ten or twenty person operations. In addition, we have to cover an incredibly broad range of technologies with this small number of people – networks, servers, desktops, laptops, mobile devices, telephony, web content, hosting… The list is long. In fact, in my own 35-year time in the IT industry I have yet to find a more broadly skilled group!
That said, it leaves us with several needs. Who do we turn to when we need to ask for suggestions? How do we persuade vendors and distributors to give us competitive terms and conditions? And how do we provide our clients with the assurance of our professionalism, that we are different from the ‘bosses cousin’ that seems to pop up and present themselves as skilled?
This is why SMB iT Professionals was formed, initially as state-based organisations in the eastern states of Australia, but now spanning all Australian states and New Zealand in a single regional organisation. We describe ourselves this way: “SMBiT Professionals is the industry association for Information Technology service providers specialising in Small and Medium Business. Our members achieve optimal outcomes for SMB clients by applying best practice in the implementation and management of appropriate Information Technology, and through continuous professional development, strong vendor relations and open information exchange.”
We exist to create three realities.
- That SMBs look for Member SMB iT Professionals as a condition of acceptance for any IT service provider;
- That every IT vendor needs to positively engage with SMB iT Professionals in order to be successful in the SMB market; and
- That IT service providers find membership of SMB iT Professionals of unparalleled value in running a successful business in the SMB space.
We welcome all bona fide IT service providers servicing SMBs to join us and realise this value in creating their own successful business and satisfied clients.
Cheers, John Cromie
President
SMBiT Professionals Victoria |
|
|
Written by Don Tibbits
|
|
Sunday, 09 August 2009 15:41 |
Victoria Committee members have confirmed that new members of SMBiT Professionals will soon receive a Welcome Kit on joining.
Exact contents of the Welcome Kit have yet to be finalised, but it will contain a range of exclusive member resources, including access to the members only area of the SMBiT Professionals Website.
The Kit will contain logo templates to enable members to add the SMBiT Professionals logo to their marketing material and E-mail signatures.
The Kit will also include exclusive member resources provided by vendor partners and information about a range of special offers available to members. These include book discounts from the likes of Microsoft and O’Reilly and a discount on the purchase of Jeff Middleton’s Swing Migration Kit.
Also planned for inclusion is a range of document templates, such as a standard Service Level Agreement (SLA), as well as information about legal and insurance resources for IT pro’s. |
|
Written by Don Tibbits
|
|
Sunday, 09 August 2009 11:33 |
|
SMBiT Professionals have adopted the logo based on artwork originally developed by the Sydney group.
The logo features a symbol which represents the cyclic nature of Information Systems Management, which is typified by the cycle of ICT management tasks: Installation, Management, Training, Support, Maintenance, Disposal, Upgrade.
The original logo bears the words ‘SMBiT Professionals Sydney’. But movements are currently underway to make state-based chapters more inclusive of regional members. To this end members in Victoria have decided to use the name ‘SMBiT Professionals Victoria’. This does not mean however, that regional groups will not be encouraged. For example, there are already groups of members in the Murray Valley and Far North Queensland who may wish to form local ‘chapters’.
As far as the logo is concerned however, it is anticipated that the regional specification will be dropped from the logo in favour of the word ‘Member’. This will create a logo which all members can use on their branding and marketing material to indicate that they belong to the leading industry association for Information Technology service providers. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
News