Vodafone is looking for more than 300 franchise partners across the country to set up IT Hubs in their local areas, forming part of a new strategic drive from Vodafone to help SMEs better manage and get the most from their IT solutions.
As an IT and comms managed service, each IT Hub will have a local territory in which it will offer an outsourced one-stop shop for IT and communications support, including help with hardware and applications, alongside connectivity and security. The target market for the hubs will be SMEs that are resource-limited and don’t have their own internal IT support function available.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce has found that many SMEs needed support for their IT requirements; 37 per cent believed they lacked the capacity to manage multiple ICT suppliers, contracts, and licences. One quarter felt their current digital tools were not resilient enough to help protect their business from online threats including phishing, ransomware, and password hacking.
Vodafone Business IT Hubs will be limited companies trading under the Vodafone brand, and will employ their own local technicians, account managers and engineers. They will sell a portfolio of Vodafone products and services alongside selected products from world-class partner vendors, enabled by an industry leading platform, with IT software, services and resources.
Miryem Salah, chief data officer and head of Vodafone Business IT Hubs, said, "We know that business owners need to prioritise serving their customers and growing their business; in a busy world this doesn’t always leave the time or the resource to keep on top of their IT estate or manage multiple suppliers.
"At the same time, we know there are IT experts sat at their desks across the UK who have a dream of setting up their own businesses, but need some support to get started. That’s where we come in.
"We can offer our franchisees the capability, scale and confidence that comes from working with a large global brand, as well as finance and marketing support, while they can offer the technical skills and local knowledge to build a successful business that supports the local SME community.
"We're excited to start this journey with our new franchisees in 2024 and beyond. I’d urge anyone with an interest to get in touch."