SMB Tech Rollup: Security Concerns, Cloud Integrations, Collab Tools

We continue our weekly SMB Tech Rollup this time with the news that many SMBs are getting worried about IT security, but are happily embracing the cloud.

In addition, Microsoft and Intuit are getting together in the cloud, HP and Cisco could be helping SMBs with new pricing arrangements, and Spigit is focusing on better collaboration tools.

Many SMBs Concerned With IT Security

Nearly finished with the outlooks for 2010, but still one or two more in relation to SMBs worth noting. The latest set of trends is from Forrester Research (news, site)  which shows that a large percentage of SMBs will significantly increase their spending on new IT security technologies in 2010.

The findings are contained in two reports: The State Of Enterprise IT Security And Emerging Trends: 2009 To 2010 and The State Of SMB IT Security And Emerging Trends: 2009 to 2010

They show that 37% of SMBs expect to increase investment in security focused technologies. While data security is the largest budget item for IT organizations, the greatest spending increases are in the area of network security, where 40% of enterprises and 36% of SMBs expect to spend more in 2010.

Nearly half of all enterprises (46%) were concerned about smartphones, while 38% were concerned about Web 2.0 technologies. More than 80% — large and small — identified managing vulnerabilities and complex threats as a high priority in the coming year.

Forrester's survey of nearly 2,200 enterprise and SMB business executives and technology decision-makers in North America and Europe is part of Forrester's Business Data Services (BDS) series.

And SMBs Are Also Embracing The Cloud

SMBs are becoming more sophisticated in their technology purchases and are buying into solutions like SaaS and managed services, new research from The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) reveals.

The survey of more than 400 SMBs across the United States found that nearly 30% of them plan to implement SaaS solutions in 2010 to lower costs and maintain their competitive edge. That’s up from 22% and 14% respectively in the two prior years.

Thirty percent of SMBs say they intend to implement managed services solutions in 2010. It also showed that 42% of SMBs do not have a formal IT department, relying instead on workers handling IT needs on a part-time basis.

The CompTIA study also indicates SMBs are placing increasing importance on technology solutions that drive revenues and have a direct, positive impact on the customer’s experience. This is reflected in their growing adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and other such solutions in 2009.

CompTIA’s Third Annual SMB IT Spending Trends study is available at no cost to CompTIA member companies here.

Microsoft And Intuit Integrate Cloud Services 

Intuit (news, site) and Microsoft (news, site) have recently announced that they plan to integrate the capabilities of their cloud services platforms and create new opportunities for software developers to deliver and market Web applications to small business customers through the Intuit App Center.

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Tags: cisco, cloud computing, collaboration, comptia, crm, document management, enterprise 2.0, erp, forrester, hp, intuit, microsoft, smb tech rollup, spigit

We continue our weekly SMB Tech Rollup this time with the news that many SMBs are getting worried about IT security, but are happily embracing the cloud.

In addition, Microsoft and Intuit are getting together in the cloud, HP and Cisco could be helping SMBs with new pricing arrangements, and Spigit is focusing on better collaboration tools.