IT outsourcing organisation Iocom has formed a joint venture with IT leasing and rentals company Equico to promote outsourcing in the small-to-medium business sector.
The fifty-fifty joint venture, known as Iocom Corporate Services, aims to acquire IT assets and staff from small-to-medium businesses, thereby creating new outsourcing customers.
Under the agreement with Iocom Corporate Services, customers sell their IT equipment and staff to the joint venture for a price similar to their purchase price. In return, the customer will be guaranteed a replacement schedule and support for new and existing IT equipment, ensuring all infrastructure remains current, said Peter Singer, CEO of Iocom.
The businesses will also be given the opportunity to enter into a five-year outsourcing contract with Iocom Corporate Services.
Customers have the opportunity to buy their assets back in the future if they wish, Singer said.
According to Singer, this is the first product of its kind to actually buy equipment and assets from IT departments. "It's similar to EDS's deal with the Commonwealth Bank, " he said.
Small-to-medium businesses can expect savings of around 20 per cent by choosing to outsource instead of maintaining their own IT equipment, Singer predicted.
Businesses with between 45 and 500 desktops will be targeted for the program which is aimed at acquiring $50 million worth of IT assets over the next 24 months, Singer said. The minimum price that Iocom Corporate Services expects to pay for a company's IT assets is $100,000, Singer said.
"We have a limit of $275 million without going to Equico and getting approval for more funds, but that would be buying 30 per cent of IT assets from (the small business sector)," he said.
"$50 million is an achievable target."
Singer said Iocom Corporate Services expects to sign its first customer in a few days.