Almost half of UK businesses seeking IT support believe they’re locked into restrictive contracts and paying for services that they don’t need, according to recent research from Virgin Media O2 Business.
The report surveyed 250 senior IT decision-makers from UK organisations of at least 50 employees over the course of a week in May and June 2021. Respondents to the survey cited lengthy and inflexible contracts as preventing their businesses from recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, with 36 percent of those surveyed stating that renegotiating fixed-term contracts is a barrier to operating more flexibly and “making bold decisions” over the next two years.
It also found that 42 percent of respondents view signing multi-year contracts as “risky” in the current climate and 94 percent stated that investing in new digital services will help their business bounce back from the effects of the pandemic. However, 57 percent of respondents said that their business isn’t agile enough.
Over 40 percent of IT managers who would like more support from their service providers stated that they want the flexibility to end contracts with partners without incurring a penalty, citing it as one of the most important things they could do to support future growth over the next 18 months.
The report coincides with the launch of Virgin Media Business’ UltimateFlex contracting model for wholesale solutions, which offers customers anytime cancellation as standard for managed ethernet, internet access, and high capacity services.
Mike Hallam, Director of Fixed Wholesale at Virgin Media O2 Business, said:
“Businesses are crying out for more flexibility, certainty, and value to unlock the power of digital technology and bounce back stronger”
“After a bruising year, we’re giving partners a leg up with our radical new model which abolishes upfront fees, provides lifetime price confidence, and comes with anytime cancellation so they have the tools they need to thrive whatever comes next.”
