SMBs want, and get, a lot of service choices

There is a set-in-stone truism about SMBs (small-medium businesses): They want to look like big guys, but they don't want to pay for it. The SMB market is exploding as big companies lay off workers and more small firms pop up in a bad economy. And, thanks to broadband IP, these companies have more choices of features, applications and options than models in a Chevrolet showroom. 

"The Internet is a great level playing field because Joe Schmoe, a single person or a couple people, can compete with very large players just by the way their Web site looks or the functionality that Web site offers," said Vikas Khanna, vice president of broadband technologies for Covad. 

It all starts, most vendors agree, with voice service and can veer wildly from there with some vendors pushing an on-site do-it-yourself PBX model and others suggesting an off-premises hosted or managed service with some even extending into the amorphous Ethernet "cloud." 

"It comes down to the economics," said Khanna. "If your core competency is sales ... it may make more sense to have a hosted solution where you just log in and get your e-mail from a provider (and)your telephone is sitting at your desk and you don't have to deal with it." 

That, he said, is typical for many smaller organizations, but "as you evolve and look at bigger SMBs, you may choose a totally outsourced model." 

The hosted model has worked well for 8x8, which abandoned its residential play and now is focused primarily on SMBs. 

"We host just voice ... PBX functionality," said Huw Rees, vice president of business and channel development.  

That seems a little shortsighted when looking at opportunities available through unified communications (UC) that tie together all the business's functions more tightly than a prenuptial agreement. Small businesses, though, neither want nor need all those UC bells and whistles; a little voice tied to some e-mail and perhaps an application or two hosted by an outside provider will do the job, Rees said. 

"People have been talking about UC for years now, and I wouldn't say that it's widely adopted yet. I don't think it's a panic solution where you have to have it tomorrow. There's still plenty of business today," he said.

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