IT solutions for information knowledge (IT) is a collection of similar software systems and/or resources offered as a single kit. Under the label solution, IT manufacturers, service suppliers and value-added resellers (VARs) advertise their tech suites and packages. To inspire the belief that buying the product would help the consumer overcome a problem effectively or cope with a difficult situation.
In specific, certain manufacturers and software engineers refer to all their individual products as software solutions. For instance, since it helps to fix a particular issue, a vendor can call its antivirus software a solution.
However, in a stricter context, an IT Solutions approach, as opposed to a single, discrete product, is an aggregate of goods and services. The antivirus software should also be combined with similar products, such as a spam filter or backup program, to correctly be considered a solution.
Forms of suppliers of IT solutions
Any VARs started to brand themselves as solution dealers or solution suppliers in the 1980s—a name that many channel members continue to use today. To solve their challenges, VARs and channel associates learnt to get close to their clients, learn about their pressure points and then package goods.
Under the solution vendor umbrella, systems integrators have also appeared, providing a combination of consultancy, customisation of applications and deployment services. In the 1990s, to supplement their turnkey strategies, VARs started to provide consultancy and other professional services.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the exponential expansion of local area networks gave rise to network solutions, when clients sought assistance to plan, build and maintain networks. Network-oriented resellers, also known as network integrators, initially concentrated on the NetWare product of Novell. But gradually changed the scope of their network implementations to Windows and open-source operating systems, as networking features were acquired from such software platforms.
For IT solutions providers, the internet extends prospects
The internet’s arrival has moved the IT solution industry in new directions. Controlled service providers started to appear towards the end of the 1990s and early 2000s. These businesses have taken advantage of the internet as a cost-effective way of directly tracking the on-site solutions of their clients through lights-out management. Remote monitoring and management soon transformed this growth into another part of IT solutions.