Euphoria Telecom urges SMEs to weigh tech buys carefully

Euphoria Telecom has urged small and medium-sized businesses to take a broader view when buying technology systems, warning that product features alone should not drive purchasing decisions.

Reshma Lutchman, Head of Sales at Euphoria Telecom, said smaller firms often face a disproportionate cost when technology purchases go wrong, as implementation, staff training and disruption add to the initial outlay.

She cited Xero's 2025 State of South African Small Business report, which found that 38% of surveyed small businesses lacked the resources to adopt new technology, while the same share reported skills shortages. Another 35% said they struggled to integrate new technology with existing systems.

Against that backdrop, Lutchman said businesses should define the operational problem before comparing suppliers or product specifications. They should assess whether inefficiencies stem from weak software, poor integration between systems or internal processes that no longer fit the business.

"Three months after investing in a new technology system, half your team is still using the old one. The promised efficiencies haven't materialised, employees are frustrated and you're beginning to wonder whether the investment was worth it. The supplier's demonstration was impressive, the product seemed to tick every box, and yet something has gone wrong," she said.

Her comments reflect a recurring issue in the SME market: a persuasive demonstration may not match the practical demands of rolling out a system in a business with limited technical staff and little time for training.

Problem first

Lutchman said companies should involve the employees who use existing systems every day when assessing what needs to change. Those staff are often best placed to identify where processes fail, which features matter in practice and whether a replacement system would solve the original issue.

This can also help businesses avoid buying tools that reproduce existing problems in a different format. A company that spends hours moving information between systems, for example, may be dealing with a process design issue rather than a simple software gap.

Timing is another factor. Businesses entering a peak trading period, restructuring operations or introducing another major internal project may not have the capacity to absorb an additional technology change without disruption.

Companies should also assess whether staff have enough time to attend training, test the system and adjust their routines. In some cases, a phased rollout may be easier to manage than a full switch.

The UK government's 2025 research into SME technology adoption also highlighted the need for reliable, personalised support during the adoption process, reinforcing the argument that buying decisions extend well beyond software features.

After the sale

Lutchman also pointed to the period after a contract is signed, when onboarding, technical support and fault resolution matter more than the initial sales process. She said businesses should ask suppliers who will manage the account, how support works, what escalation procedures apply and whether assistance is included in the quoted price.

She recommended speaking to current customers with similar operating requirements to test how suppliers perform once systems are live, including how they respond when outages or technical issues occur.

Security and continuity should also form part of the assessment. Guidance issued by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2026 identified resilience and core cybersecurity practices among the issues to consider when carrying out supplier due diligence.

Contract terms can be just as important as technical specifications, particularly for smaller businesses that may outgrow an entry-level package. Lutchman said buyers should understand how pricing changes as they expand, who owns the data generated through the service and how easy it would be to retrieve that data if they move to another provider.

A low introductory price may become less attractive if switching costs rise later or if extracting business data becomes difficult, she said.

Measuring results

Lutchman said businesses should agree on clear measures of success before signing a deal, whether that means cutting administrative work, improving response times or removing a recurring operational issue. Establishing a baseline beforehand can help determine whether the investment has delivered the intended result.

"Ultimately, a successful technology investment depends on more than the product itself. It requires a clear business need, employees who are equipped to use it and a supplier who remains accountable long after the contract is signed," Lutchman said.