If you want to buy SPSS and you know that it’s developed by IBM then you might think (not unreasonably!) that IBM should be your first port of call. However, unless you’re planning a massive investment in SPSS along with a whole range of other IBM products, IBM will then direct you to a specialist partner such as Smart Vision.
Smart Vision can process standalone SPSS deals more effectively than IBM
This is because of the way that IBM’s business is structured. IBM’s focus is on bringing together its wide range of offerings to help its clients solve business problems. This means that any client who is looking just to buy one specific product will be directed to one of IBM’s partners. IBM has a whole network of business partners who specialise in particular products from its portfolio. At Smart Vision we focus entirely on SPSS.
SPSS Statistics used to be sold exclusively through SPSS Inc – a US based company with offices globally and with sales, support and training teams based in each office. In 2010 SPSS Inc was bought by IBM. In the beginning IBM teams dealt with all SPSS sales and enquiries centrally but over time IBM began to set up partnership arrangements with organisations such as Smart Vision, realising that Smart Vision could process standalone SPSS deals much more cost effectively than IBM itself could, and also was better placed to answer questions about SPSS and provide support.
The entire Smart Vision team are dedicated SPSS specialists
This is because the Smart Vision team consists almost entirely of ex SPSS Inc employees, each with 25+ years of SPSS experience under our belts. Members of the Smart Vision team have focused their entire careers on SPSS training, sales, marketing and support. We have a much deeper knowledge of all things SPSS than any IBM employee could reasonably be expected to have, because we specialise purely in working with SPSS. It’s very rare that someone asks a question about SPSS that one of us doesn’t know the answer to – please feel free to test us on this!
If you want to make a massive investment in business intelligence, purchasing a whole suite of IBM products to help you do that, one of which might be SPSS, then you’ll need to deal with IBM directly. However, if you know that you just need SPSS, whatever the size of the deal, you’re better off coming directly to Smart Vision (and indeed, ultimately IBM would filter you to us anyway). The size of the deal doesn’t influence whether we’ll deal with you or not. We don’t mind whether you just need access for one user for one month, or if you need hundreds of licenses. If it’s SPSS related, we can help you.
Smart Vision is an IBM Gold Partner
Smart Vision is an accredited IBM Gold Partner, direct recognition from IBM of the quality and depth of SPSS service that we can provide. IBM will refer any requests for new licenses to a partner organisation anyway, so by coming directly to us you save yourself a step. Even if you already have an SPSS license that you bought directly from IBM (or indeed from another IBM partner) you may still find it beneficial to talk to us first. We can answer any questions that you have about license options, and our business partner agreement with IBM means we can offer very flexible and highly competitive pricing. We can also provide you with a trial license for a short period.
We can offer more responsive help and support
If you need help with any aspect of SPSS you will find us to be much more responsive. Because our team is small and focused, we can be nimble and our processes are simpler. If you have a support question for IBM you’ll be directed to IBM’s support page (assuming you have an active support license) where you’ll need to raise a ticket using your IBM license information. IBM has a complex support channel which can be tricky to access with longer waiting times and IBM’s support team may not have the expertise to answer your specific questions.
If you’re working with Smart Vision and have a support agreement in place with us, all you need to do is send us an email or give us a call referencing your organisation name. We offer highly responsive email and telephone support from a team dedicated to helping people get the most out of SPSS day in and day out. Generally you’ll be able to get the answer to your question immediately, no need to raise a ticket, no need to wait for your query to be passed to the right person.
IBM does not offer SPSS consultancy or training itself
What if you need SPSS consultancy or training? IBM does not offer any SPSS training or consultancy services, instead outsourcing everything to partners such as Smart Vision. We can offer you access to an extensive library of self-paced training (free to Smart Vision customers, available at a small cost if you aren’t a Smart Vision customer), as well as a wide range of on demand webinars and many how to videos and blogs. We cover a whole range of topics from ‘how to’ guides to help you get started with analysis in SPSS, through to deep dives into particular statistical techniques. And we can also provide you with personal training or consulting. If you call our support line you can ask statistical questions as well as more traditional support questions. We’re entirely set up to help SPSS users to get the most out of their investment in SPSS.
Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can help you
IBM is set up to filter all SPSS-specific enquiries to a dedicated SPSS partner such as Smart Vision. You can save yourself some time and effort by working directly with us from the start of your SPSS journey – give us a call or drop us an email today to see how we can help you.
