By Steve Gales, Head of Small Businesses, HP

While the current economic climate has made small business more frugal about capital investments for IT, it has also acted as a catalyst for businesses to consider more creative alternative resource models to keep their business ticking over. The economy has actually had a positive impact on business seeking viable routes to support their IT purchasing decisions and, as a result, there has never been a better time to consider technology leasing.

Advocating the use of technology leasing in these interesting times is a no brainer. There are a huge array of new businesses offering scalable solutions for both small and large companies – not just leasing notebooks, desktops, printers and servers but also providing software licenses and service support from industry experts for a fixed payment every month. Companies might worry about taking the plunge when it comes to choosing technology leasing because they don’t own the IT infrastructure of their own business and have to out-source. However, for businesses with the right set of conditions, the benefits of opting for technology leasing far outweigh the negative.

With just about all products, including IT equipment, there is a certain degree of depreciation from the point of purchase. Furthermore with a constant flux of technological advancements, it can be a strain for businesses to remain up to date with the latest equipment. Tech leasing allows business to receive the latest hardware upgrades so they can operate more efficiently on newer systems that are capable of dealing with more demanding tasks. Once companies have found the right balance of hardware to optimise maximum efficacy, they’ll often get the chance to buy out from their tech leasing deal.

Tech leasing gives businesses maximum flexibility on hardware upgrades with lease deals offering tailored bespoke solutions for their customers. It provides new IT for businesses without the need for capital expenditure so capital can be invested elsewhere. Cost can be spread over the life of the equipment and new IT can be installed when the existing kit isn’t up to the task of the job any more. The downside of leasing any IT hardware is that businesses don’t take ownership of the installed kit. However, in effect, the leased kit is rented so businesses get a tax break and claim tax relief against any payments made.

Any leasing company worth its salt will only supply kit or provide support service from valued and trusted brand names. Getting the right service or product from a trusted source is a potential deal breaker for any small business considering having hosted solutions because it gives absolute peace of mind. Small businesses that purchase IT equipment often have to make do with a selection of disparate hardware purchased over the years to hold their IT infrastructure together, resulting in reliability risks. Therefore, by buying in to one specific brand through a lease agreement, small businesses get peace of mind that all the products are compatible. Product reliability, quality and return on investment are vitally important ingredients. But it’s equally valuable for smaller businesses to know that its investment is protected by service support and expert help from big brand suppliers with big enough infrastructures to deal with any problem.

Whatever tech leasing deal businesses opt for, they’ll notice that there are a wide variety of companies and initiative on the market – from smaller specialist technology leasing companies to collaborative partnerships from big brand deals that offer a selection of incentives.

Hewlett Packard is the number one supplier to small businesses, so it makes perfect sense for HP to offer a selection of partnership initiatives and deals to encourage potential customers to choose technology leasing deals. HP provides accreditation to lease partners through its Centres of Excellence specifically for smaller specialist lease companies to deliver small business solutions locally. Companies like Readycrest in Kent are authorised and accredited by HP as its Centre of Excellence for Kent. In essence, this means a local delivery of high quality advice, products and services from not just HP but also from HP’s industry partners.

This local model is complemented by national outreach through HP’s and BT’s The Works – a scalable business solution with a huge array of all the right hardware, software, services and support companies need. The Works has 56 small business deals, supplying HP equipment and rolling out end to end support. BT has the scale to cope with delivering IT services to 40,000 customers with a fully integrated IT and network infrastructure. The HP and BT partnership provides highly experienced professionals who design, install and offer 24 hour support for IT infrastructures. HP supply the server, the network, the PC’s & the software required to drive business forward. BT also runs an IT Manager solution with HP and has a credited partnership with Microsoft’s Gold Status, which represents the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies. This means credited partners like BT have access to Microsoft’s support solutions so small businesses have an excellent quality of service for technology leasing.

HP has its own bank that offers a selection of financial services and incentives to fit the needs of small business requirements. There are zero percent finance lease deals through participating resellers for purchases with a minimum cost of £1, 000 EX VAT over a lease period of 36 months designed to entice business with a host of benefits. Interest free costs are spread over the lifespan of the hardware and fixed payments are not affected by rate changes. Lease deal customers gain tax benefits by offsetting lease payments against taxable profits to reduce net cost and they can upgrade to the latest technology while HP disposes of old hardware in compliance with the WEE directive at no expense.

So while the economic does have an impact on budgets the option of tech leasing provides a fantastic sanctuary for small companies that are trying to ensure a healthy cash flow.