For SMBs

Mar 25, 2009 13:31 GMT  ·  By

No less than half of the Small Business Specialists surveyed by Microsoft for its SMB Insight Report have underscored virtualization or IT consolidation as critical components of a strategy for SMBs to reduce expenses. According to the software giant, a midsize server is considered the technology most likely to help businesses slash operating costs. And in the context in which SMBs are turning to technology as a way to cut costs, the “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” indicates that IT spending will remain at least at the same level if not even increase throughout 2009 for no less than 55% of SMBs.

“Small and midsize businesses play a critical role in the world’s economy and are often the first to emerge from periods of economic uncertainty because of their passion, resiliency and innovation,” explained Eduardo Rosini, corporate vice president for the Worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners group at Microsoft. The Redmond company has surveyed no less than 600 Microsoft Small Business Specialists across five countries in order to get the feel of how SMBs are reacting to the global economic downturn.

The “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” is designed to offer a perspective over the following markets: United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Brazil. Microsoft is relying on the insight provided by Small Business Specialists because they are the “no. 1 go-to” destination for SMBs that want to adopt new and advanced technology solutions.

But along with virtualization and IT consolidation, small businesses are also turning to software as a service, rather than on premise products, also in a bid designed to help them cut costs. And reducing expenses can also be generated by an increase in remote workers. Microsoft revealed that over 50% of Small Business Specialists surveyed predicted that the number of remote workers for SMBs would grow.

“Historically, we have seen that SMBs have responded to economic contractions by intensifying their use of IT, both to cut costs and to defend and enhance their customer relationships,” revealed Steve Reynolds, managing director for AMI-Partners. “If SMBs respond to the current crisis as they have in the past, we can expect that a sizable number of smaller businesses will invest in IT now to lower operating costs, boost employee productivity and increase connectedness to customers so as to reap the benefits in the years ahead.”