Careering ahead

The right IT infrastructure is a crucial element of any business, but finding the funds to finance it can present a significant challenge. Increasingly, businesses are meeting that challenge by acquiring their software via subscription rather than with a lump sum payment.

Such a payment model is increasingly viable for all kinds of software, thanks to the work of IT finance provider Syscap. Recruitment consultancy Optimum IT recently discovered the benefits of Syscap’s innovative work, when they invested in a specialist database for managing candidates.

Optimum IT is a leading London-based recruitment consultancy, formed in 1999. As its name suggests, the company’s expertise is in the field of computing, where it supplies permanent and contract staff to a range of blue chip organisations worldwide.

What sets Optimum IT aside in a crowded market is its professionalism. All its consultants undertake a comprehensive training programme and its internal processes have been recognised with ISO9001:2000 accreditation.

To ensure candidates and companies receive the best possible service, an efficient and reliable IT infrastructure is key, as Optimum’s CEO, Barry Simpson, explains. “Technology is more than just the focus of our business. It’s at the heart of our organisation. We simply couldn’t deliver the level of service we do if we didn’t have the very latest equipment, particularly software.”

All of which has cashflow implications. Cashflow is of crucial importance in any business, but in the recruitment sector, it’s absolutely critical. “Our work is highly cyclical,” says Simpson. “In the spring, for example, the phone doesn’t stop ringing. However, in December, recruitment is the last issue on many business managers minds – but we still have similar overheads. Managing cashflow takes an enormous amount of time and energy.”

When it became clear that it was time to make a major investment in an application database, therefore, Simpson was faced with a dilemma. “I knew that the software would increase business efficiency and enable us to manage candidates in a more integrated way. But if we paid for the licences upfront, I knew we’d be taking a big financial hit.” So Optimum looked at other options.

Subscription seemed a particularly attractive option from a cashflow point of view – instead of paying a one-off fee for a perpetual licence to use software, users who pay by subscription pay a smaller, regular amount,that better reflects their actual use of the package.

The problem was that the software Simpson initially considered was from a small, bespoke vendor, who lacked the financial backing to offer a subscription service. A larger competitor, who offered an inferior product, did provide a subscription-based solution, and Simpson was tempted. As he puts it: “It wasn’t what we wanted, but it was how we wanted to pay.”

Luckily Simpson’s first choice of vendor had been in contact with Syscap, the UK’s leading independent IT finance provider. Syscap has been established for over 15 years, and specialises in flexible finance solutions that enable businesses to acquire IT in more cost-effective ways.

One of Syscap’s most recent innovations is Subscription Plus. It’s an off-the-shelf finance package that allows vendors to offer subscription-based solutions to their customers. Usually, many smaller vendors require payment up front, which makes it harder for them to compete with bigger organisations. But with Subscription Plus, they can offer their customers a more flexible payment method, while still getting paid, in full, by Syscap. Everyone wins.

Using Subscription Plus, Simpson’s chosen software vendor was able to offer him the database software he wanted using a subscription-based model.

“The agreement we’ve set up is just right for us,” says Simpson. “For a start, we can pay over time, which aids cashflow. It’s also extremely flexible – we can easily expand or retract the number of licences we have, based on our changing needs. The solution Syscap has helped us acquire therefore matches the cyclical nature of our business perfectly.”

Now Optimum IT has the database it needs, Simpson has noted the difference. “It’s radically simplified the way we do things, and made it much easier to locate the information we need. Had I been forced to go with the inferior software solution, the savings in business efficiency wouldn’t have been so significant. It would have been a second-rate option.”

“Thanks to Syscap, I managed to get the solution that was right for my business as well as right for my bank manager.”