The launch of three new hosted propositions in its portfolio for SMB resellers is a clear sign of Cable&Wireless Worldwide's commitment to the channel, affirms Craig Penfold, Head of Cross Products and Portals at the telecoms giant.

The new packages are the first part of a new bundling strategy which will be expanded over the next few months, Penfold explained. The three options available to resellers are a hosted IP CCTV proposition for security services, online back-up and managed Exchange services. The propositions are based on current elements of the Cable&Wireless Enterprise offerings, re-engineered for the SMB market. "We've taken the strategic decision to leverage our enterprise experience by developing specific propositions for the SME market," he says. "But not to take them out to market directly, rather indirectly through our wholesale partners.

"One of the things we decided not to do was simply take enterprise products and rebadge them for channel partners to use in the SME market. What we've consciously tried to do is take the underlying capabilities but re-orientate them to fit the market. We understand that what works for a high street bank with 10,000 employees is not necessarily the same as what a 50 person organisation needs."

The key benefit of the new bundles is low capital outlay for both resellers and their customers, Penfold explains, and that Cable&Wireless shares any risk involved. Resellers can mix and match various solutions to create the perfect package for their customers. "We pride ourselves on being not only competitive at the headline commercial level, but we're flexible as well," says Penfold. "Increasingly, what we're finding with our larger partner engagements is that they want to be very bespoke in the way we work with them. We've got some good propositions in the kit bag at the moment and we're developing different flavours of access and network technology that can be blended by our partners. Rather than dictating the end user technology, we believe that the way we and our resellers can compete is to combine our propositions into solutions that fit their requirements."

Penfold believes that it's vital for partners to start branching out into new markets, but the best place to start is with existing customers. "What we're seeing is that people are still spending," he says. "But they're very much spending with their existing suppliers, the trusted advisors who are a known quantity. What we tell our partners, and ourselves, is that we need to focus on customer service during the recession. We believe that if our partners take our propositions and stick them at the heart of their own customer experience, they can get to the magic point where they're both reducing cost and adding value."

The SME market is still sceptical of hosted solutions, and the channel will have to focus on educating their customers about the benefits of SaaS solutions. "I think there's a lot of cynicism to be overcome," Penfold explains. "But this time round we've got the maturing of a number of technologies that will make it possible. The broadband infrastructure is a lot more mature, and vendors like ourselves are able to leverage our enterprise experience in the marketplace."

The channel needs to be aware of the growing threat to their market not just from data value-added Resellers who are offering convergence solutions for SMEs, but also Internet giants like Google who are poised to make an impact. "Resellers need to start taking a multi-service point of view and focus on end user requirements rather than getting hung up on specific technologies," says Penfold. "Your average SME would like to go to one place for all their services, they're time poor and telecoms aren't their core business."

At the same time, he says, over extending your reach isn't the best answer. "When companies like Google get involved with a market they do so seriously. Our advice is to focus on core competencies and differentiation. If you stick to a well-honed space and add the value your clients want, that's the sweet spot. The danger is having a knee jerk reaction and trying to get into everything."