SMBs have previously been under-targeted by vendors, yet over the last twelve months, large vendors have noticeably increased their SMB coverage in order to gain market share in this area. A Datamonitor survey of 500 SMBs within the UK aims to discover the validity of vendors' IT solutions or services to this market.

Scope

Analyses UK SMBs' attitudes to selecting IT vendors and discovers who their current providers are. Assesses the propensity of SMBs to outsource their IT services and gives a view of future outsourcing opportunities. Looks at IT issues and the reasons driving businesses to outsource. Outlines the reasons preventing enterprises from outsourcing.

Highlights

A Datamonitor survey of 500 SMBs within the UK reveals that SMBs' outlook when choosing an IT vendor is very traditional. The majority consider the most important factors to be the standard of customer service, service performance and a strong existing working relationship. The propensity of SMBs for outsourcing is still relatively low: 25% have business applications delivered on demand by a service provider. Although this is a minority, results from the survey indicate that with the right solutions available at affordable prices SMBs may begin to adopt managed services for more aspects of their business. Security is a major issue for SMBs and they are all too aware that they will need extra resources and time to deal with any threats. This explains why 44% of SMBs would most likely look to a vendor to provide them with security services. Other issues such as connectivity, web presence and email management also come out as high priorities.

Reasons to Purchase

Discover the important factors that SMBs look for when selecting a vendor. Find out why SMBs need to outsource their IT services and which areas are the most problematic. Understand the main reasons preventing SMBs from outsourcing in order to adjust your market strategy.