Two tech firms target small entrepreneurs

A multinational computer technology company and a homegrown retail brand are trying to reach out to more small businesses with their partnership.

Christopher Papa, Dell Philippines director and country manager, said the company has been catering to large customers on a nationwide basis but have somehow missed out on opportunities to serve micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

For this, Dell has partnered with Thinking Tools, Inc. (TTI), which Papa said he believes can give value to their products.

Papa added that this partnership would bring down the overall cost of products as direct links to customers are seen to cut down stages and lead time.

“We have to work closely with more partners because we can actually cover more customers this way,” he said at the sidelines during a recent seminar with prospective corporate clients in Cebu City.

He said that since Dell set up base in the Philippines 17 years ago, the company has always had direct relationships with its customers, but orders and requirements are fulfilled with their partners.

In the last three years, he said the company has been going through a channel transformation initiative to cover a greater computer market base.

“We started it in Manila and now we are reaching out to more customers in the Visayas and Mindanao areas,” he said, although he was not able to give figures on the company’s market share in these places.

Void

Wilson Tan, TTI president, said they have been hearing a clamor from the MSME sector for an alternative supplier of computer products amidst other brands’ reported failure to deliver.

“There is a void. There is poor and delayed service. For us, we feel that we can give value to customers who need products that other vendors are not able to provide,” he said.

Both Papa and Tan agree on the importance of technological innovations in businesses, particularly for MSMEs.

For Tan, technology helps businesses operate more efficiently and effectively.
Papa, on the other hand, said the country’s economy has been largely driven by various industries’ adaptation to technology.