Debunking The Myth: The CIO of SMBHow do tech marketers pinpoint true decision makers in SMB?By understanding what defines an SMB and who’s really calling the shots.

www.spiceworks.com/marketing

For tech marketers, it’s an all too familiar story: You’re faced with a staggering number of companies in the SMB space and the daunting task of reaching every last one of them. As a result, your company often goes to great lengths to ensure they’re “targeting SMBs.”

There appears to be a common misstep in how companies have been carrying out their marketing approach: They assume that reaching out to the CIOs of SMBs will do the trick. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but when all is said and done, there are just not enough CIOs of SMBs to warrant spending time and resources on a lengthy marketing campaign.

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What actually is an SMB? And who manages their $800B annual IT wallet?

Since no two companies targeting SMBs define them in the same way, let’s clear the air with a simple definition: SMBs are companies having fewer than 1,000 employees. Simple as that! Spiceworks, home to 2M IT pros, has a firm grasp on what that figure means when it comes to purchasing power.

This leads us to a few global stats:

These 7M are the IT decision makers who are purchasing tech for SMB-size organizations. This means that IT decision makers manage purchasing for over 197M employees inside of 18M companies worldwide. That’s an estimated $800 billion yearly spent on IT and some serious buying clout.

Where to begin? Wrapping your brain around the scale of the SMB market is a great starting place for tackling your new marketing game plan. So first things first: let’s level set on what we mean by organization size.

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The Home Office Market(1 to 10 employees)

Starring: Your Friendly Neighbor, Fred

At the lower end of the SMB market, we typically find 1 to 10 employees often referred to as small office/home office (aka SOHO). These folks tend to purchase products from mass retail outlets (Best Buy/Walmart) or online retail stores (Dell.com/Amazon.com) and then often seek out help from IT-savvy friends or family members to set up and sometimes maintain their computers/networks (Thanks, Fred!). MSPs and IT service providers are playing in this space too and are providing expertise for a number of companies just this size. These “smallest-of-the-small” usually set a budget based on some driving event, such as a new employee or upgrading obsolete equipment at the last possible moment.

The ‘S’ of the SMB Market(10 to 250 employees)

Starring: The MSP & The IT Generalist

Picture your small neighborhood insurance office or vet clinic. These are the typical small businesses that make up a large part of the workforce around the globe, and where actual IT budgets (albeit small ones!) start to take shape. Because they lack the buying power of large companies, they’re extra careful about the dollars they spend. Don’t look for a large IT department here – these organizations usually only employ between 1 to 5 full-time IT pros. Not surprisingly, MSPs and VARs play a large role in this segment by complementing technology infrastructures or even running all of IT for them. That also goes for purchasing. As a large number of products and services are acquired through VARs/channel vendors, they trust these partners and have cultivated very strong relationships with them.

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The Large SMB Market (501 to 1,000 employees)

Starring: The VP of IT

The SMB “bulls-eye”: The fewest number of companies boasting the largest IT budgets with IT organizations ranging from 5 to 20 people. A VP of IT is not uncommon here but, as is the case in the medium space, these VPs are known for getting their hands dirty alongside their staff as they help put out IT fires within their organization.

SMBs in this space are using VARs and DMRs almost exclusively and this is where we start to see solution-driven IT deployments. These IT departments have larger-scale needs that may require on-site contractors and special employees who set up/deploy systems and move on to another large company opportunity.

The ‘M’ of the SMB Market (250 to 500 employees)

Starring: The IT Guru

As smaller companies evolve into bigger players in their industry, they find themselves working harder to compete in the medium business space. With an average, rather sizable IT budget of over $1M annually, these SMBs have “staffed up” with an IT department of 3 to 10 employees and sometimes even a VP of IT. They purchase large amounts, if not all, of their products through VARs and DMRs. By establishing trust in these partners and building mutually beneficial relationships with them they are perfectly at ease asking their VAR reps what products/brands they should purchase – and they usually run with those recommendations. It goes without saying: Trust is priceless in the IT world (almost as priceless as understanding who the real IT decision makers are).

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Home Office Small Medium Large Large Enterprise

Owners, Office Managers

Sys/Network Admin, IT Director

Sys/Network Admin, IT Director

Sys/Network Admin, IT Director, VP of IT, Team Leaders

CIO, VP of IT, IT Director

People who keep the business running. Typically not iT-savvy.

often the only iT pro on staff. highly knowledgeable and influential in purchasing.

often one of very few iT staff. highly knowledgeable and influential in purchasing.

one of many iT pros on staff with influence on large purchases and actively engaged in tech solutions for company.

often hard-to-reach, with gatekeepers preventing sales contact. Passes off review and consideration of technology to junior staff .

The Enterprise Market (Over 1,000 employees)

Starring: The CIO

This is where the big dogs play, and they’re easy to track down and network with. Sadly, this is where most IT vendors focus their efforts, leaving the IT pros of true SMBs largely ignored. No love for the little guy! Yeah, the CIO is here (as is the CISO, CTO, etc.), but then these are not SMBs by any measure. Not surprisingly, tech vendors work directly with these heavy hitters to purchase products, negotiate price, service levels, etc.

A breakdown...

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What’s a tech marketer to do now?

Even as IT organizations grow (in staff and responsibilities) the decision makers are “downstream” where you’d like your brand to be. Yes, the CEO, COO and sometimes the CIO are the ones who write the check, but don’t forget: While the regular guys and gals in the IT department may not have the power to say “yes,” they most certainly do have the power to say “no” and are usually the ones who shape the purchase discussion. Here’s what not to do: Focus on the CIO as the only decision maker and watch your sales plummet.

Worry not – there’s an easy fix: Just pay attention to the large number of voices and influencers in these IT departments when marketing and selling tech products, services and solutions. Voila: tech marketing at its finest! Through IT communities, tech conferences, and informative newsletters you can connect with these key players, speak to the C-Level suite, and make your marketing and sales efforts get more done.

What is a CIO? I am the IT guy for our 250 person law firm in Florida. Me and 2 other guys decide what to buy.

- Kevin C., IT Pro

Most of us ARE decision makers… or at least TELL the decision makers what to decide. That’s how it works here.

- Paul C., IT Pro

Marketing to the C-Suite is the move of someone who knows their product isn’t any good.

- Scott M., IT Pro

I think what so many vendors fail to realize is that while I, as an IT professional, am not the decision maker, I have two very important roles: decision influencer and gatekeeper. If a vendor doesn’t convince me, they don’t make it to the decision maker… and [I] can make or break most IT decisions.

- Justin D., IT Pro

From the Spiceworks CommunityIT decision makers sound off

What’s my next move?

We’re glad you asked! The next step is simple: Show IT pros who are in the “trenches” of their IT departments that your company truly values “the little guy.” Because, let’s face it, they can make a tremendous impact on how successful you are in the SMB space.

We see it over and over again: Tech marketers focus their efforts on the “big fish” and bypass potential prospects who actually call the purchasing shots. Frankly, the CIOs of SMBs are few and far between. Should you come upon a rare one, chances are they’ll be heavily influenced by (or defer to) the IT staffers you just overlooked. And your competitor, who might know better, may just snag the deal for themselves (ouch!).

Glossary

SMB - Small and Medium Size Businesses: Businesses with 1 to 1000 employees.

VAR - Value Added Reseller: Vendor of IT products that provides additional services, sometimes complementary and often built into contracts for larger purchases.

DMR - Direct Market Reseller: Also known as an ‘e-tailer,’ is a company that sells directly to businesses without operating a storefront of any kind.

MSP - Managed Service Provider: Provides delivery and management of network-based services, applications, and equipment to businesses.

CIO - Chief Information Officer: The person, typically in an enterprise, responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals; also known as the Chief Information Services Officer (CISO)

Visit us at spiceworks.com/marketing to learn more and understand how to optimize your IT marketing with IT buyers.

spiceworks, as an iT management app and a community of over 2M iT professionals,

provides a unique view, insight and path to reaching more than 25% of the world’s sMbs.

Ready to talk to the true iT decision makers? get in touch with us at spiceworks.com/marketing and we’ll make sure you’re quickly engaging with over 2M iT pros.