Why Traditional System Integrators (SI’s) need to rethink of their business model & transform from project based to a more product & solution focused organization.
What is a System Integrator ? SI’s as they call them are technologically specialized organizations which bring in various technology and practices and stitch them up together. Most of the SI’s don’t have their own solutions or products but they partner with leading global vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, IBM etc to resell their products / solutions and undertake the implementation, configuration and support services. Each country would have a specialized authorized reseller or preferred partner for a specific vendor. The business model is such that the SI’s sell the vendors product license (if it’s a software) or hardware components to the customer and undertake the implementation. The SI is connected and strong in the local market and has all the relationships with the C level at an organization hence the business is highly dependent on relationships. This can both be an advantage and a disadvantage. The margin Game The SI makes most of its money by doing the im...
