Small and medium-sized businesses intend to expand their use of technology to improve customer interactions, mobility options, and operational efficiencies, according to a new study just released by CompTIA, the non-profit trade association for the information technology (IT) industry.
Seven out of 10 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) surveyed said they expect to increase their technology spending over the next 12 months, according to CompTIA’s Third Annual Small and Medium Business Technology Adoptions Trends study.
A full third of the companies surveyed expect to increase their IT budget by 10 percent or more. This may reflect large, one-time purchases, which is still a good sign for technology vendors and solution providers. In the aggregate, expect SMB IT budgets to increase by an average of slightly more than 5 percent, with some firms’ growth rates much higher and some flat.
“Technology is more accessible, more affordable and more available to SMBs than ever before,” said Seth Robinson, director, technology analysis, CompTIA. “SMBs may not have an abundance of capital to invest, so they have to make every dollar count. But the majority is willing to spend money on new technologies, especially solutions that give them capabilities on par with a larger enterprise. Technology plays an integral role in the life of a small business.”
Among the factors driving SMB technology buying decisions over the next 12 months are desires for better network efficiencies and robustness; improved connections with customers online and in a mobile environment; enhanced resource management and tracking; and more business analytics.
The desire to become more mobile–for both customer interactions and employee productivity–is a clear trend identified in the CompTIA study. For medium-sized businesses (those with 100-499 employees), 42 percent currently have technologies in place–tablets, laptops, smartphones and other devices–that allow them to interact with customers and give employees access to applications, data and networks in a mobile environment. Another 33 percent plan to do so in the next 12 months.
Among small businesses (10-99 employees), 25 percent use mobile solutions and 43 percent expect to start in the next 12 months. Even micro businesses (one to nine employees) expect to significantly increase usage of mobile technology, with current usage at 12 percent and planned usage at 22 percent.
Another example of how SMBs mirror their larger counterparts in technology usage is in the “consumerization” of IT in the corporate environment. A full 85 percent of SMBs surveyed said their employees use personal tech devices for work purposes. Laptops and smartphones are the most popular options, but 38 percent of companies see employees bringing in tablets.
While the use of personal devices may offer convenience and productivity benefits, the CompTIA study suggests that the trend is cause for concern among the large majority (82 percent) of SMBs.
“The top concerns are security-related, whether in the form of a virus being brought into the company network or some breach related to customer data,” Robinson said. “The time supporting these devices is also cited as a concern, whether it’s time spent by IT staff or by individual employees attempting to access corporate networks and applications.”
SMBs may be seeking to mitigate these risks by purchasing tablets, laptops, smartphones and other devices their employees use, bringing them under corporate control.
More Cloud Computing in the Forecast
Nearly one-third of SMBs have adopted cloud computing technology, with medium-sized businesses (42 percent) showing the highest utilization. Another 35 percent of all SMBs plan to use the cloud in some form in the next year.
Storage and backup solutions are the most heavily used cloud applications with 71 percent of SMBs using the cloud in this way. Email (62 percent), document management (59 percent), collaboration (56 percent) and customer relationship management (53 percent) are other popular options.
Among SMBs now using cloud computing, 92 percent of firms say their experience has been positive or very positive; and 97 percent report that their move to the cloud has produced the desired result, with cost and flexibility most frequently cited as the benefits of a cloud solution.
CompTIA’s Third Annual Small and Medium Business Technology Adoptions Trends study is based on a May 2011 online survey of 602 IT and business professionals in small and medium businesses in the United States. The complete study is available at no cost to CompTIA members who can access the file at www.CompTIA.org or by contacting
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online