IT and hosted services - keys to SMB success

By CRM Management Editors | Feb 9, 2010

Businesses that view IT as an enabler for better business productivity and effectiveness, and those that use hosted services performed better fiscally than those that do not.  This is according to Microsoft's recently released global SMB IT and Hosted Index 2010, which investigates how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) across multiple segments fared during the recession, and how they use technology.
 
Despite the global recession, more SMBs surveyed in 2010 reported an increase in revenue than in 2008. Those that reported growth view IT as critical to their business success.
 
Increasing 20 points since 2008, 55% of SMBs consider IT as critical to their business.  Of these companies, 60% saw revenues grow over the past 12 months. In contrast, among SMBs that stated IT is not important, less than 29% saw revenue increase.
 
The 2010 index indicates SMBs are beginning to see the benefits of cloud computing; more than 40% of the respondents that use hosted or cloud technology reported revenue rises of 30% or more compared with 90% 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.
 
Awareness of hosted services is increasing with 65% of SMBs using hosted software to some extent, while 73% of the remainder have considered it, compared with only 44% in the 2008 Index.