By Laura Vaupel, Director, International Sales, Logicalis US
At Logicalis, our international customers often tell us that it’s our attention to detail that is most important to them. Consider how important even the smallest of details – like knowing each country’s unique power cord standards – can be to the success of a multi-national IT project. There are also currency differences and tax initiatives to take into account, which is why having a variety of ways for a client to manage their international transactions that takes tax advantages, centralized payment processes and project control into account is one of the most crucial things to look for in a solution provider as a partner for international IT rollouts.
Below, I’ve outlined three of the most significant ways a solution provider can best assist you in conducting business internationally, though it’s important to note that each of these areas are broad, topline categories that should also offer a myriad of choices under each.
Capturing Local Tax Advantages
If you’re interested in maximizing available tax advantages on a country-by-country basis, start with a single point of contact at your solution provider partner who can help you coordinate the entire project. At Logicalis, our sales reps coordinate quotes, solutions and local services in each country on your behalf. Then, each Logicalis office around the globe fulfills your orders in country, in your own currency, allowing your organization to forego or reclaim taxes on eligible purchases of both hardware and software solutions as well as professional services. With this country-by-country option, while you are invoiced by each individual country, Logicalis handles all the rest, and the potential tax savings can be significant.
Centralizing Payment Processes
Want a more streamlined invoicing process? Can your partner can bill you for all your transactions in the same currency as the country in which your headquarters resides? At Logicalis, we can procure your multi-national solutions all on a single order in your main local currency, sending just one invoice to streamline the process. Behind the scenes, Logicalis places orders with its other locations around the globe, each of which acts as a distributor to deliver your solutions within your countries of choice. When selecting a solution provider partner and opting to do business this way, be sure to check that you won’t have to worry about customs, shipments, or import regulations either.
Maintaining Project Control
Need your order delivered to a central location so you can standardize elements before shipping to other offices? Any solution provider you work with should have this capability. Logicalis can prepare and deliver your solutions to you in your ordering country to allow you to standardize elements of the solution, then either the you or Logicalis can ship the completed solution to your various locations around the world.
Additionally, while having different operations in many countries may technically qualify a solution provider as a “global” entity, something more is needed. It’s important that any solution provider you choose as your international IT business partner has a framework in place that ensures consistency in the professional and managed services they provide regardless of geography.
Logicalis, for example, delivers a seamless customer experience globally through our Common Services Platform, a framework based on standard ITIL processes. This framework was instrumental in helping us achieve Cisco Global Gold certification, a testament to the quality and consistency of our worldwide services and support.
Therefore, to be a true partner, a solution provider should be able to deliver repeatable, consistent services across all participating geographies while still being able to remain flexible and agile in meeting your unique regional needs.
I invite you to contact us with any questions you have about doing business internationally. At Logicalis, we understand the complexities of doing business on a global scale, and we have the right people and programs in place to make the process a smooth and easily manageable one for you and your team.
Want to learn more? Find out how Logicalis’ international experience and resources can help make your multi-national business and IT digital transformation goals reality. Download a copy of the 2017/2018 Logicalis Global CIO Survey in which CIOs around the world discuss the barriers to digital transformation and their plans to overcome them. Where does your organization stand on the road to digital transformation? Take our two-minute quiz to find out: http://ow.ly/tWJW30h2cP9.