Small businesses represent a significant opportunity for IT products and services. These companies appreciate the advanced IT products and services that large companies use to enhance their operations. At the same time, small businesses cannot usually afford the enterprise-class infrastructure, software, and solutions that are available to much larger businesses.

IT service and solutions vendors increasingly are supplying enterprise-level products and services to small businesses via new business or delivery models. Today, small businesses can leverage productivity, security, and other tools via cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings. The use of these products allows small businesses to reach markets globally and to appear competitive with much larger enterprises.

Given the unique nature of SMBs, interest in various cloud services differ. Several factors increase the likelihood of SMB interest in cloud-based IT services:

• Company size – Companies with more than 10 employees show significantly higher interest in IT service offerings than smaller SMBs. Approximately 44% of companies of between 11 and 100 employees indicate interest in cloud-based IT services compared to just 28% of smaller SMBs.
• Companies with virtual workers or remote locations – Cloud-based IT services offer unique tools to enable collaboration and communication and also allow remote employees to access the same business applications, databases, and documents as employees in the home office. Companies with the highest rates for telecommuting have the highest interest in and uptake of IT services.
• Knowledge companies – Information resources in knowledge-based companies are critical to the company’s competitive advantage and success. As a result, these companies are often more open to technical support and other IT products and services that improve service efficiency and minimize business downtime.
• Device intensive businesses – Businesses that have a high number of connected devices are more likely to encounter device-related technical problems and interoperability issues than businesses with few devices.
• Schools – Students of all ages are increasingly connected, so schools must be prepared to leverage the latest technologies and protect against current threats. Most have broadband access and need IT services to support their growing networks.
• Companies reliant on mobile devices or workers – Companies use tablets and smartphones for order entry, operational management, information sharing, and other business-critical tasks. Cloud-based IT services and remote support services are needed to maximize the utility and uptime of mobile platforms.

U.S. SMBs represent a good market opportunity for IT product and service providers. Parks Associates explores the market in depth in the industry report IT and Support Services for Small Businesses, which includes a five-year forecast on service adoption and revenues. For more information, click here.

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