SME procurement
SMEs not exploiting web potential
News Wei told silicon.com said: "I think UK SMEs are used to a very stable export or procurement approach. At the end of 2007 it had 4.4 million SME users with around 200,000 of these in the UK. Small... [25 Mar 2008]
EC: Small businesses should buy more IT
News European governments can help small firms by encouraging public and private partnerships to fund innovative research and development, and by making public sector procurement processes simpler, said Courtois. [29 Nov 2006]
The SME hype cycle
Comment Read silicon.com's special report on SME procurement, including analysis on SMEs and open source, how small businesses buy IT, and a look at which telecoms services SMEs should buy. The problem is that... [25 Jul 2006]
Small business loving web shopping
News 'Have internet, will shop' - that's the new motto at SMEs, analysts have found, with the majority opting to do procurement over the web. According to a report from JupiterResearch, 79 per cent of SMEs buy products and... [14 Jul 2006]
Quocirca's Straight Talking: How small businesses buy IT
Comment Vendors transitioning their offerings to the SME market are often coming at it with an enterprise sales culture that does not translate. They might spend months or even years nurturing a large IT... [03 Jul 2006]
Can SMEs compete for government contracts?
News Lyn Duncan, managing director of @UKPLC, a company focused on helping companies to trade online with the public sector, says: "Public sector buyers do want to trade with SME's [small and medium-sized businesses] -... [29 Jun 2006]
The 11 companies that run 80 per cent of government IT
News The government is trying to get more small companies involved with public sector tech projects, according to the OGC, which is responsible for IT procurement. Other clients in the UK include The Medicines Control Agency... [27 Oct 2005]
'Cash for tech SMEs' Bill hit by Blair's timekeeping
News The Procurement of Innovative Technologies and Research Bill, based on existing US legislation, was put before the House of Commons yesterday during a debate on the Finance Bill. It should be recognised that we need... [23 Mar 2005]
"Size matters" for IT procurement say CIOs
News The scale required to support standard global IT infrastructures combined with tightly-controlled central procurement policies still means most small and medium-sized (SME) technology vendors are... [14 Mar 2005]
Short-term planning drives IT purchases for SMEs
Comment A lot of them don't believe in forward planning, so an SME might buy new PCs but then forget about the networking and probably the cables too. Small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) have their own particular ways of... [10 Mar 2005]
Small IT suppliers slam government's "closed shop"
News In particular the IT framework agreements of the trading arm of government procurement body the Office of Government Commerce have come under fire for excluding SME suppliers. Out of the 13 suppliers... [21 Feb 2005]
Leader: What SMEs need
Leader It's this recurring trend that's prompted us to dedicate a new silicon.com special report to SME procurement - how small businesses buy and use IT. For our special report, we've defined a... [15 Feb 2005]
Small business IT: Keep it simple
Comment Before the company went to Systemhost, its IT procurement had little structure and it purchased equipment on an ad hoc basis. Many SME IT problems stem from the way technology is procured - and by whom. [15 Feb 2005]
Boardroom Despatches: Eager suppliers, supine buyers
Comment Continuing a recent silicon.com theme of large organisations being brave enough to use smaller suppliers, Rene Carayol this month explains why seemingly playing safe with IT procurement is ultimately dangerous for all of... [10 Mar 2004]
Devil's Advocate: The big deal of government buying small
Comment The issue of government procurement of IT is hardly a new one. One of the most interesting questions is whether government actually has a sensible procurement policy. But government... [09 Mar 2004]