Building on the sales success of the IBM Express Portfolio, IBM today broadened the program by announcing the first Infoprint Express and Education Pack offerings, along with new ThinkPad Express models. The new solutions are designed specifically to meet the needs of small and medium businesses (SMBs), delivering a combination of price, performance, functionality and ease of use.
Small and medium businesses are already realizing productivity benefits from high-performance, wireless-enabled office technology and stronger training programs. According to the Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSPA), a national, non-profit group established to help SMBs understand how technology can further their business, PC technology can enhance competitiveness and increase employee and business productivity by enabling more efficient customer service, business processes and employee response times.
IBM’s newest Express offerings join a growing high-value portfolio that is gaining widespread adoption and acceptance with SMBs as they continue to seek lower IT support costs, simplified configuration and management, and improved employee productivity. Since the inception of its Express Program, IBM has delivered more than 60 solutions in the Express portfolio, driven by demand from the worldwide SMB marketplace—the fastest growing segment for IT solutions.
PC Sales Booming in IBM Express Portfolio
IBM’s PC Division sold more ThinkPad and ThinkCentre Express models in the first quarter of 2004 than in all of 2003 combined, as SMBs took advantage of a program designed to help transform them into more highly responsive, flexible and more productive enterprises. ITSPA research indicates more than half of small and medium businesses believe IT will be more important in helping their company achieve business objectives in the next 12 months.
Leveraging this success, IBM added new Express models of the ThinkPad X40, the thinnest and lightest ThinkPad ultraportable ever, and the ThinkPad R50e and R51 notebooks. These new models feature IBM ThinkVantage Technologies, including Rescue and Recovery with Rapid Restore, a one-button system recovery solution that can restore a PC to a previously saved state, helping users recover from many common problems, including corrupted software files and even many viruses. ThinkPad X40 Express models start at $1,499, ThinkPad R50e Express models start at $1,129, and ThinkPad R51 Express models start at $1,199. (1) For more information, see http://www.ibm.com/think
New IBM Infoprint Express Portfolio
IBM also introduced today the Infoprint Express Portfolio, a family of printing solutions for businesses requiring a more responsive and flexible printing offering and the first printing solutions ever offered under the Express portfolio of products. The three new packages include the IBM Infoprint Express, IBM Infoprint Express Package for ERP and IBM Infoprint Express Package for iSeries, featuring integrated hardware and software solutions at a price point aimed to meet the unique budget restrictions of small and medium businesses.
The new IBM Infoprint Express Portfolio of offerings includes:
*IBM Infoprint Express, for customers looking for powerful printing and networking capabilities, features a selection of monochrome and color printers with maximum print speeds of 20 to 40 pages per minute, with software, services and flexible financing options, as well as a wide range of connectivity options including wireless technology to simplify network printing and enable mobile communications.
*IBM Infoprint Express Package for ERP can help improve the distributed print environment for small and medium businesses and optimize communication and the flow of information to suppliers and customers by enabling the full utilization of information from ERP databases and many other supply-chain systems.
*IBM Infoprint Express Package for iSeries integrates sophisticated print management functionality and enables customers to print business-critical information reliably and accurately through system-managed printing.
Every business, regardless of size, can capture value and increase productivity through better management of print resources and printing processes. IBM helps customers improve printing value by providing technology and addressing asset management and cost containment, as well as financing and fleet management. For more information, see http://www.printers.ibm.com
The New IBM Education Pack
To address the challenge small and medium businesses face in developing more efficient and cost-effective IT education and training for employees, IBM will now offer the IBM Education Pack, a set of three discounted fixed-price offerings for IBM IT education and training in information technology. The pack provides access to classroom training, IBM technical conferences and e-learning offerings that IBM is renowned for, at a competitive price.
Customers can pre-purchase access to training that best fits the business needs of multiple employees, without having to obtain budgeting for each class. Companies can improve organizational and employee productivity by aligning learning to their business IT strategies in such areas as integration of new hardware and software technologies, IT staff improvement and server consolidation by obtaining access to more than 9,000 courses worldwide. Express discounts range from 5 to 10 percent, depending on purchase level.
With its expertise in services, hardware, software and learning, IBM can deliver a complete learning solution tailored to an organization’s unique and evolving needs. IBM learning solutions help small and medium businesses increase productivity through targeted initiatives that give employees the tools, information and resources needed to enhance skills and capabilities. For more information, see http://www.ibm.com/training/edpack/smb
The IBM Express Portfolio
The IBM Express Portfolio offers hardware, middleware, services, printers and financing—all tailored to the needs of small and medium businesses – that can be acquired, installed and managed quickly, are cost-effective, and deliver a rapid return on investment (ROI). More than 60 offerings in the SMB Express Portfolio help customers to improve the responsiveness and flexibility of their IT infrastructure, so they can concentrate on their core businesses. And because cash flow is one of the most pressing issues for mid-sized businesses, the IBM Express Portfolio is more affordable with a series of attractive financing options. For more information about IBM Express, see http://www.ibm.com/businesscenter/us/express/
For more information on the ITSPA, see http://www.itspa.net
