A Close Look at How SMBs Are Using Cloud Services

Cloud services A Close Look at How SMBs Are Using Cloud Services A new study examines how small and midsize businesses are using cloud services and the most significant opportunities for service providers in this space. Big Spenders The 2015 U.S. cloud services market for SMBs encompasses more than 7 million SMBs that spend on […]

Written By: Gina Roos
Jun 4, 2015
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Cloud services

1 - A Close Look at How SMBs Are Using Cloud ServicesA Close Look at How SMBs Are Using Cloud Services

A new study examines how small and midsize businesses are using cloud services and the most significant opportunities for service providers in this space.

2 - Big SpendersBig Spenders

The 2015 U.S. cloud services market for SMBs encompasses more than 7 million SMBs that spend on average $3,323 annually on their cloud services.

3 - Hosted vs. In-HouseHosted vs. In-House

32% of SMBs use hosted servers. Top triggers for IaaS include business model changes, and in-house servers did not do enough or had too many challenges.

4 - Barriers to IaaSBarriers to IaaS

SMBs with in-house servers said price (48%), security and privacy (34%), and legacy systems and other tech concerns (24%) are the top barriers to moving to a hosted solution.

5 - Buying IaaSBuying IaaS

SMBs buy IaaS via Web hosters (47%), local IT sources (VARs) (21%), pure cloud providers (10%) and telco/cable companies (6%). Purchases are conducted online (47%), by phone (22%), via VARs (13%) and through direct sales (10%).

6 - Selecting a Service ProviderSelecting a Service Provider

The most important factors in selecting a service provider include price (36%), existing relationship (21%), ease of management (15%) and security (14%).

7 - More Value Equals Higher RevenueMore Value Equals Higher Revenue

54% of SMBs would pay an additional $10 per month for unlimited storage, and 47% would pay an additional $10 per month for high availability.

8 - Web PresenceWeb Presence

84% of SMBs have a Website hosted by a third-party. Key factors SMBs consider when selecting a Web hoster include price (62%), customer experience (32%), existing relationship (23%) and security (17%).

9 - Big BusinessBig Business

Top Website add-ons in 2015 include search engine optimization (SEO) (36%), backup (26%), security (24%), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) (20%), e-commerce (15%) and content management (13%).

10 - Business Email and BundlingBusiness Email and Bundling

65% of SMBs’ business email is hosted by a service provider, 23% use a free service and 7% is hosted on an in-house server. What’s more, 54% of third-party hosted email is bundled with Website hosting or a hosted server.

11 - More OpportunitiesMore Opportunities

82% of SMBs don’t use hosted business voice services (hosted PBX services).

12 - Top BarriersTop Barriers

SMBs said the biggest barriers to hosted voice services are price (53%), lack of knowledge (46%), concerns about complexity (17%) and technical concerns (13%).

13 - Collaboration AppsCollaboration Apps

In 2015, SMBs are using instant collaboration (39%), Web conferencing (24%) and mobile-device (2%) management. In 2018, use of these apps will grow to 41%, 27% and 6%, respectively.

14 - Business AppsBusiness Apps

The number of SMBs without SaaS dropped from 32% to 28% in the past year. Key factors in selecting business apps include price, features and capabilities, business need and customer experience.

15 - To Pay or Not to PayTo Pay or Not to Pay

The most popular cloud app is file sharing (35%), but only 17% of SMBs pay for this service. In comparison, online CRM is used by only 6% of SMBs, but 83% of users pay for it.

16 - Other Popular Cloud AppsOther Popular Cloud Apps

Other popular cloud apps include payroll and HR (28%), online accounting (28%), and online backup and storage (27%).

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