Business Bytes
September 21, 2009

Thinking Like Enterprise IT

 

What's the difference between small to midsize business IT and enterprise IT?

Most would quickly answer; size! Enterprise IT is clearly bigger. The bigger the business, the bigger the IT department!

But there is so much more to it than that.

Here's a comparison between to the two:

1. Enterprise IT has an on-going relationship with its vendors, often with a vendor representative assigned full-time to their account. SMB's sign a service contract and there is typically no relationship until the day something goes wrong.

2. Enterprise IT buys services from its vendors. SMBs buy hardware and software products.

3. Enterprise IT gets their new technologies tailored to their business needs. SMB's adapt their business around the capabilities of the technology.

4. Enterprise IT decision-makers are typically able to go to trade shows and industry conferences learning about new vendors and new solutions. SMB IT decision-makers typically do not have the budget to attend events. This leaves them limited to only the better known major name vendors.

5. Enterprise IT has a C-level executive. SMB IT leaders may or may not have the ear of top level management.

For the emerging company, it begs the following questions:

How will your company make the transition to an enterprise level IT department when the time comes?

Would that transition spur on the growth of your company?

Is your typical SMB IT department holding back your organization?


Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987.