CRN Network, February 04, 2010, 1130 hrs
Microsoft Corp released its global SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010, which investigates how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) across multiple segments fared during the recession and how they use technology.
According to the research, businesses that value IT as an enabler for better business productivity and effectiveness and those that use hosted services performed better fiscally than those that do not.
The 2010 index also indicated that SMBs are beginning to see the benefits of cloud computing; more than 40 per cent of the respondents that use hosted or cloud technology reported revenue rises of 30 per cent or more compared with 90 per cent of respondents not using hosted technology that saw decreases in revenue. The advantages of hosted or cloud technology are viewed as reduced cost and IT management and maintenance, as well as increased business value, productivity and competitiveness.
“Over the last five years, we have seen nearly 40 per cent growth in usage of hosted services,” said Michael Korbacher, Director, EMEA Software plus Services in the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “Using pay-as-you-go cloud technologies, small and midsize businesses can now afford and easily have access to enterprise-class, secure services across any platform.”
“Our assessment of the report tells us that an increased focus on IT correlates with good performance in all of the size categories surveyed,” said Dale Vile, Research Director, Freeform Dynamics. “This whole picture corroborates the notion that technology and hosted services can provide tangible business advantage, even for smaller companies, and it’s not surprising to see that investment in IT and hosting goes hand in hand with good financial performance.”
The SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010 commissioned by Microsoft researched 3,193 SMBs in a cross section of private industries in 15 countries. |