PRESS RELEASE
Channel Media Q&A
with Gartner Vision Events' Dawn Shultz
As large enterprises continue to hold pretty tight budgets, the midmarket has become the ideal place for solution providers to focus their attention. With an estimated 90,000 companies in North America alone, midsize businesses (MSBs) are providing many new customers for resellers and vendors alike. Although they may not have the large enterprise budgets, MSBs invest multimillion dollar IT budgets annually to solve business problems and to competitively differentiate themselves.
We spoke with Dawn Shultz, Gartner Vision Events’ Director for Midsize Enterprise Summit (MES) about the opportunity that exists for Channel Media readers in the midmarket.
Channel Media: I understand that you’ve been with the midsize enterprise event since its inception three years ago. Did your team have any idea then that the midmarket would be this hot?
We did know that it was an enormous opportunity, but let’s just say we didn’t realize it would become so ‘popular’. We developed the event based on Gartner’s research of the market so we knew that this was an untapped segment that was growing, and while viable, it was also not getting the focused attention of vendors and the channel.
CM: There seems to be a number of definitions out there of what constitutes "midmarket". Who exactly are you bringing to the table?
Gartner defines midsize businesses as those with 100 -1,000 employees and $50 million - $500 million in revenue, then we look at two subsegments within this as the characteristics and needs of businesses in the 100 - 499 employee range are very different from those in the higher range.
For the event, we broaden this definition slightly as we look at a number of factors in addition to 100+ employees and revenue size of $100 - 750 million. We qualify MSBs based on their IT spending level, we want a cross-section of companies in terms of industry sectors, and we only want the decision-makers who are normally a CIO, CTO, VP of IT, or IT Director.
CM: We know what’s bringing companies like HP, JD Edwards, Microsoft, PeopleSoft and so forth to the midmarket and to your event today. But, what do you think the opportunity is for the channel?
Midsize businesses purchase technology and IT services from two main channels — directly from the vendor and from VARs. The upper end of the midmarket, those with more than 750 employees, tend to buy direct more consistently. But, Gartner’s research points out that there are also specific types of products and services that MSBs buy more frequently via VARs and integrators vs. vendor direct regardless of company size. It’s never black and white in the midmarket!
CM: Our readers are diverse — they may be experts in specific solutions, they may focus on particular vertical markets, or they may be regionally focused. How would an event like Midsize Enterprise Summit be beneficial?
The event has been a success for two main reasons. One is that we’re the only event today bringing hundreds of prequalified midmarket IT executives face-to-face with vendors and VARs. And as I mentioned earlier, we look at a range of company sizes, a cross-section of vertical markets, and particular levels of IT spending to develop the audience list.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to have access to extensive profiles on midsize businesses. They come in all shapes and sizes, and a $250 million business in one vertical sector may be small, while in another it’s the high-end with a high-level of IT spending to keep them on top.
We also designed the event from the start as three regional events a year — East, West and Central. This allows VARs who are regionally focused to pick and choose, and also guarantees an intimate setting where they can do business with each and every person onsite.
CM: Even the largest VARs don’t have the budgets that HP or Microsoft does. How do you suggest they compete for mindshare at the midmarket level and at an event like Midsize Enterprise Summit?
Like any other market, it’s about the relationship. But this is particularly important to midsize businesses because they don’t have the staff and other resources that large enterprises do. They’re also very much driven by ‘organizational pain points’, and by that I mean that many of their buying decisions are driven by the need to comply fairly quickly with external demands. Both of these variables result in their relying on a trusted network of advisors, and relationship-based purchasing.
MES offers direct contact with hundreds of midmarket IT decision-makers in just 2.5 days, and there’s a number of different ways that VARs can participate in the event. I guess the question is, ‘what would it take for a VAR to get in front of hundreds of already prequalified senior executives at midsize businesses’? I’m betting that MES is going to give a better return-on-investment of time, money, and staff.
CM: Can you tell me anything about your efforts to expand moving forward?
I think I'll have to save that for a formal announcement later in the year.
Do you have a midmarket question for Dawn? Reach her via e-mail at dawn.shultz@gartner.com or toll-free at 877.619.7956, x493. For details on Midsize Enterprise Summit, go to www.midsizeenterprise.com now.
