As we have seen throughout these days, the as-a-service modality in technology is triumphing among small and medium-sized companies. Payment for use of technology, as it is also known, has allowed the best digital tools to no longer be a luxury, only available to the majors. Now, smaller companies can also use it and pay for what they use, without investing in expensive licenses and adapting it to their needs.
Some large companies, such as Acer, aware of the success of as-a-service, have designed and made customized plans and technologies that respond to their smaller customers. The advantages that this supposes tells us, in this interview, Óscar Visuña, Commercial Sales Manager Acer Computer Ibérica.
MuyPymes: What is Acer’s proposal or proposals in the as-a-service or pay-per-use market?
Oscar Visuna: At Acer, collaborating with BNP Paribas and other relevant partners, such as Microsoft and Google, we have developed two proposals of ‘as a Service’ so that our clients can choose the one that best suits them. Enjoying, in both cases, all the advantages offered by contracting services versus purchasing a device.
Acer Smart Finance is a pay-per-use program to which you can add some services such as installation, integration, warranty extensions… Everything, in a very tight monthly fee and without interest. Most ‘as a Service’ offers on the market remain in this type of offer, but Acer goes further by offering its second proposal, Acer Device as a Service: counting on the platform of Zuora, a world leader in solutions for the economy of the subscription, we offer subscriptions to the use of equipment, services and solutions from Microsoft and Google, all combined in a monthly and flexible invoice, which is adapted, monthly, to the needs of our clients.
MuyPymes: Can these solutions facilitate telecommuting or hybrid work in SMEs?
Oscar Visuna: Without a doubt, the breadth of the portfolio and the different subscription options offer everything a client could need in today’s demanding hybrid work environment. We believe that Acer’s proposal will allow more companies to integrate new work models, much more efficient and flexible.
MuyPymes: What are the advantages of Device as a Service?
Oscar Visuna: Unlike other proposals, very similar to a traditional renting, Acer Device as a Service includes use of hardware, services and subscriptions to software solutions, all in one charge and with the flexibility to change the monthly amount. All the advantages of renting by adding subscriptions to the Microsoft, Google and Acer services that the customer wants.
MuyPymes: How can working smarter affect employees?
Oscar Visuna: First of all, in well-being. If employees work under a flexible model that allows them to self-manage some points of their day and work, they will be more comfortable in your company, and therefore more open to prolonging the employment relationship. But it will also help them gain efficiency, so they can spend more time on tasks with high added value and less on those tasks that are necessary but tedious and not strictly related to their areas of knowledge.
MuyPymes: SMEs are experiencing a brutal adaptation to digitization, how does Acer accompany all those companies that feel a little “lost”?
Oscar Visuna: With services such as Acer DaaS, precisely because we take care of covering the digital needs of each company in a personalized way, with a package that includes both the devices necessary to work and the infrastructure on which they will do so.
The fact that entrepreneurs can rely on a company that is an expert in digitization such as Acer will save them time, money and headaches, since they will not have to deal with finding the necessary devices and technologies for this transformation: we do it for them.
MuyPymes: What do you advise all those businesses that are still reluctant to work in the cloud?
Oscar Visuna: That they have to lose the fear of cyberattacks, lose daily human contact in an office or be more flexible by giving their staff more freedom. The new generations are only going to work in companies that know how to scrupulously respect their interests, since they are less and less inclined towards their work career and much more towards their personal life.
The cloud will help work permeate people’s lives without hindering your aspirations, and above all without harming the development of the productive fabric, since it will allow people to work asynchronously from anywhere and when they decide, not companies. It is the future, whether we like it or not, and there is no turning back.
