There are a variety of different leasing solutions available, and each can be structured differently to match specific needs, be they budget related or expected usage.
These solutions can include additional services such as pay-per-scan, managed equipment service and maintenance.
Crucially, these solutions take care of the asset at the end-of-life stage, and ensure that all recycling and safe disposal methods are not the customer’s responsibility.

ADVANTAGES OF RENTAL: 

The appeal of ownership is obvious to many, however as technology becomes more advanced, ownership becomes less alluring. Why buy and store physical newspapers when an online subscription can make every issue available on publication?
With this in mind, the rise of the subscription economy shouldn’t come as a surprise. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, some 80% of customers are already actively seeking new consumption models.
Subscription models, which offer access to tools instead of ownership, have already come to dominate the software market. The global SaaS industry is huge, and it’s only expanding further.
Selling IT as a product may be second nature to you by now, but today’s upfront revenue may well be tomorrow’s commercial dead end. Embracing subscription payment models is the best way to survive and thrive in the near future. Partnering with a leasing provider will make the transition easier.

Pascale FAVRE
Head of the Information and Communication Technologies Market
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions Europe

‘As a service’ is a term that refers to the wide range of IT solutions available on demand. There are already a wide range of services available, but as the industry grows in importance and profitability, the options will increase in kind.

HARDWARE AS A SERVICE
Rather than purchasing hardware such as scanners, routers and servers outright, HaaS allows businesses to pay for access.

SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
Instead of purchasing perpetual software licenses, a business subscribes for access and receives services delivered over the internet.

PLATFORM AS A SERVICE
PaaS isn’t all that different from SaaS – except that its services are designed to facilitate software creation.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE
Infrastructure as a Service allows your clients to benefit from cloud computing infrastructure. That means that instead of buying their own data centre space and servers, they outsource it to an ondemand subscription service

COST PREDICTABILITY

A customer who subscribes to a products and services is naturally more inclined to maintain the relationship with the service provider over the longterm. Retention is more profitable than acquisition: where a one-off payment might provide immediate gains, it brings no assurance that your most important consumers will return to buy again. When you’re the customers’ XaaS provider of choice, it’s much easier to retain customers, predict your revenues, and widen your profit margins over a longer period.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

Resellers are in a unique position to benefit from XaaS. Being able to package several products and services together gives you a distinct advantage. If your customer requires help with setup and implementation, you can roll these costs into the monthly fee; if they require applications from a different software suite, you can include it in the overall cost; if they need to scale up their solution, their package can be revised to accommodate this need. When you can tailor your offering to the precise long and short term needs of your customers, it becomes much easier for you to forge meaningful, long-term relationships with them.

GIVING THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT

Resellers should think of new payment models as an asset and a vital part of their evolving business models. Customers who cannot get the financial flexibility they desire from your company may well look to competitors who can provide it. A reseller who is unwilling to adopt new payment models may well risk being left behind by their more adaptable rivals.

COST-EFFECTIVE

Conventional payment models tend to conflict with the end-user’s capital expenditure restrictions. The latest edition of a certain software product might be appealing to them, but if it’s also likely to cause a significant hole in their annual budget, they’re likely to defer the purchase until they have no alternative. XaaS products offer immediate access to the best products available, with little upfront investment, and with tremendous value for money. Cloud based solutions can also automate updates and upgrades – saving them time as well as cash.

LESS HASSLE

Though there will always be exceptions, most customers are less concerned with control than convenience. XaaS models are very convenient: the heavy IT lifting is done by the reseller and the vendor. No wasting space on server rooms; no wasting time and manpower on maintenance; no building an on-site enterprise infrastructure. All data is stored and backed up offsite. All the customer has to do is pay their subscription fee and stay connected to the internet.

FLEXIBILITY

XaaS models offer unparalleled flexibility. They make it possible to scale upwards at the customer’s convenience, so if an enterprise or SME needs additional capacity or licenses, their request can be accommodated easily. If they need training or assistance with setup and support, it can be rolled into the final agreement in one convenient monthly, quarterly, or annual payment. Customers love choice. Give it to them, and they’ll have every incentive to choose your company.

Financing of the health sector or how to facilitate access to new technologies to address the challenges facing the sector?

Healthcare providers are increasingly more careful with how they spend their budgets.
However, at the same time, investment in new technologies is paramount to keep up with the pace and progress of modern medical science and to address the challenges facing the sector.
Healthcare solution suppliers need to determine how care providers can give patients affordable access to these often expensive, yet increasingly critical, technologies.
The answer is simple – they can offer medical equipment finance solutions.

This guide highlights:

• The main challenges and trends in the health sector in Europe
• The digital technologies that will revolutionize the health sector
• Solutions to make these technologies affordable
• The advantages of leasing for medical equipment suppliers
• The benefits of leasing for healthcare providers

Set-up and support

Acquiring all the moving parts is only one half of the equation. The other half is implementation, which can be a complicated process.  Without the right skills to guide a successful deployment, security measures could be weakened and productivity could easily be compromised. If not done properly, businesses could be faced with one very expensive mess.

Given how new the IoT still is, it’s very possible that businesses won’t have the expertise they need in-house. In order to facilitate machine-to-machine communication, bandwidth requirements and costs need to be carefully considered.

A major benefit of subscription models is that the support needed can be built into the package. Instead of making a one-off purchase, the pay-monthly model fosters an ongoing relationship that includes assistance with set-up and activation. With implementation under control, businesses can put the IoT to work faster.

Financial flexibility

IoT implementation requires investment in some costly equipment which easily claims about 24% of IT budgets. When money is already tight, this kind of outlay is often not possible, and eats up cash that could be spent on growing the business in other ways. A leasing agreement with regular payments provides far greater flexibility and gives access to everything needed, including analytics, actuators, applications, and more.

A limited budget is no longer a barrier to creating a truly interoperable system. With the right finance, businesses can secure the equipment, software and support that they need.

Thinking ahead

Nothing lasts forever, least of all technology. The IoT itself is continually being improved to achieve better performance at lower costs. Investing in a bulk buy of sensors, for example, may not be such a good idea when you consider that scientists have already created an improved version with a longer-lasting battery. Businesses don’t want to be left behind but neither do they want to be burdened with expensive equipment that is obsolete before it has even started paying its way.

A different approach to financing technology can help keep businesses agile and up-to-date. One of the advantages of subscription and leasing models is that, after an agreed term, IT departments can upgrade their equipment without having to break the bank.  

No matter how big or small the company size, the IoT presents huge benefits for all. The first step is for businesses to speak to their accountants and get them to review the available options. Every organisation has different needs so it’s crucial to know what sort of IoT deployment is best suited to the business. From there it’s possible to make a decision on the best way to finance the combination of software and hardware required. 

The interconnected future is here and it offers untold rewards. It’s important that businesses have the best chance possible to get on-board with a well thought out IoT strategy.

DOWNLOAD INSIGHTS

For the research “Using ICT financing for strategic gain”, Quocirca asked respondents their general views on financing and leasing, and their thoughts about ICT financing in particular. The results reveal that many SMBs are unaware how ICT financing works, preferring to spend cash on ICT purchases. The research also revealed that few resellers include a finance option during sales negotiations.

Key findings from the research include:

• The majority of SMBs expect IT budgets to shrink this year. More than 64% of respondents expect technology budgets to decrease in 2013, with a further 21% expecting them to stay level. Through financing, this available budget can go much further.
• Acquisition costs are a key consideration for SMBs in new IT projects. Over half of respondents consider up-front costs to be of critical or high concern in their procurement process. Through financing there is no capital outlay, meaning this concern is allayed immediately.
• Many SMBs buy technology ad-hoc, mainly online. 41% of respondents use value added resellers (VARs) as their main channel for buying ICT hardware and software. However, some 81% use the internet as either their primary or secondary means of procurement. Ad-hoc purchasing could actually increase ICT costs in the long term, where financing can help SMBs make more cost-effective and strategic ICT investments.
• Few SMBs use ICT financing, while fewer still understand the benefits of it. While 76% of respondents currently use car financing, only 30% are using financing for IT and telephony equipment. Just 1% are using it for software – with some 40% never having considered software financing at all. To compound this, more than 50% of respondents are unaware of the benefits of IT finance in comparison to a cash purchase or bank credit lines, while just fewer than 40% believe financing is unnecessary as they have enough cash already. This demonstrates that much more must be done to help SMBs understand the benefits of ICT financing, and how it allows valuable cash reserves to be invested in supporting core, strategic objectives.
• Many ICT vendors hardly mention financing when discussing deals – if at all. The option to finance a deal is brought up regularly in around 30% of ICT purchasing negotiations, while in 15% of conversations it’s never brought up at all. However, nearly 45% of SMBs raise the option of finance in these discussions themselves. Clearly, resellers have an opportunity to be more proactive about financing, and SMBs are more receptive than they may think.

Benoît Dilly, UK Country Manager at BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, believes the findings of the Quocirca research offer a golden opportunity for resellers: “Now is a great time for SMBs to procure ICT through financing. With budgets increasingly restricted, financing is the ideal way for them to get the technology they need to achieve their goals and go for growth. BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions is ideally placed to help resellers lead their discussions with financing, in order to make more strategic ICT sales to SMBs. In 2012, we supported nearly 40,000 UK businesses across all sectors invest in £1.1 billion of capital equipment, to help them progress their strategic goals. By working with us, resellers have an excellent opportunity to shift SMBs’ ad-hoc ICT purchasing practices towards more mutually beneficial, strategic business relationships.”

• Quocirca Report