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A Solutions Provider is any company or people that provides solutions associated with a product or a final service to the client. The final service may also come with some product that may or may not be provided by the same company or people.
For example, a doctor may provide solutions to his clients (patients); in this case it is a service, with some products (such as drugs) not provided by the doctor directly. However, the term "Solutions Provider" is more often used to refer to a company that provides a business solution, consisting of a product and associated services.
Independent Solutions Provider
An Independent Solutions Provider (ISP), also known as a vendor-independent solutions provider is related to the service provided by either a company or a group of people. It is often associated with someone else's product or service. This someone else is then a simple Solutions provider.
If the product is free in the spirit of free software and open source, they may provide both the product and the service. Many companies that make products that are not free will also not let anyone provide their products independently. These companies will provide the service themselves; anyone else who provides the service is called an authorised provider, certified partner (see Microsoft Certified Professional) or official resaler, and most of the time they have a very close relationship with the provider of the product. In this case they are not independent.
Why the use of ISP is important
Many people think more and more ISP is important. One of the new scandals in Ireland has produced more than 350 million dollars lost because they did not have their own consultants according to the government.How to identify an ISP
It is very difficult to know whether a company of this type is really independent. In order for the solutions to be independent, the company or people involved must not be under any influence by major economic interests from the one who produces the product.- They do not provide products or final services directly (except when the solution is free software). All the products and final services are provided by other groups that are not linked with the ISP in any significant way.
- It must allow the client to identify the good solutions among many possible solutions, but let him total freedom of choice between various soutions.
- It must have a long-term vision and avoid proprietary lock-in
The service provided by an ISP
The service provided by an ISP is very large. It may go from simply helping the client find a good solution to helping him to deploy it. It also depends on what kind of solution: software-related, healthcare-related, etc...Degree of service:
- help find a solution by providing the possibilities for the client. In this case the client is supposed to find himself the good solution.
- help find the good solution actively: the company will send someone to the client and discuss their needs
- not only help the client find the good solution, but also help him buy the product (if any) then deploy the product
- not only help find, buy, deploy, but also help with training on how to utilize products
Type of service:
- Software related: help find the software that will do the work
- Healthcare related: help find a doctor or a hospital, or a possible treatement
- Justice related: help understand the law in order to choose the best strategy and to make good decisions
See also
- ISP related:
- General:
External links
- WikiHowTo wiki-based open and free ISP (a proposed Wikimedia project)
"Solutions provider"