IT Management for Small Businesses

QUOCIRCA INSIGHT REPORT July 2007 IT Management for Small Businesses Contacts: Using third parties to help take the strain Louella Fernandes Quocirca Ltd Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) face many of the same challenges as Tel +44 1753 754838 large enterprises when it comes to IT management. They have increasingly complex louella.fernandes@quocirca.com systems that they rely on to drive their businesses and gain competitive advantage. Operating and maintaining a complex IT infrastructure requires the necessary skills Bob Tarzey and investment but getting the right staff at an affordable price can be a problem. Quocirca Ltd So, IT management can then become a bottleneck diverting attention from core Tel +44 1753 855794 bob.tarzey@quocirca.com business activities. Finding ways around this can give SMBs a competitive edge leaving them free to focus on new business opportunities. SMBs operate complex IT environments More than half of SMB workers are PC users and over three quarters of SMBs operate more than one server. The majority of SMBs also operate from multiple locations meaning their IT infrastructure is distributed geographically, presenting further issues for IT management. Many SMBs share their IT resources externally Almost two thirds of SMBs open their IT resources to external partners, such as customers and suppliers. This collaboration with third parties, whilst offering business efficiency also exposes SMBs to IT security risks. SMBs have embraced laptops, but are suspicious of mobile devices A high level of laptop ownership further complicates IT management, with loss and theft exacerbating the lack of asset control and the security risk. SMBs are still in the early days of exploiting ultra-mobile technologies in part because they feel they lack the management tools. This needs to be overcome if they are to realise the potential advantages. SMB productivity is impacted by a lack of IT management skills Many SMBs are using semi-skilled in-house resources to deal with IT issues who see IT management as peripheral to their main job function. Hiring a dedicated IT expert does not solve the problem, because what ever the individual's skill set, it will not be broad enough to cover all the IT issues faced by the typical SMB. Despite their extensive IT use, many SMBs are not satisfied with the reactive way in which their IT systems are usually managed SMBs are not investing in the skills and tools to proactively manage IT. This is not only impacting the performance of their IT infrastructure, but ultimately the performance of RESEARCH NOTE: the business. The information Some SMBs are turning to external partners that have experts in all areas and take presented in this report proactive approach to IT management was derived from 602 SMBs are seeking advice from external partners, and some go as far as to outsource IT interviews with senior management. Those businesses that outsource are more satisfied with IT systems IT influencers and performance than SMBs who do not outsource. decision makers from SMBs who were from a Conclusions: number of European and SMBs do not have the IT management rigour that is generally found in larger organisations. This lack US countries. The of capability is harming SMB productivity, and has a direct impact on cost. With the choice between survey was completed in in-house or outsourced IT management, those choosing outsourced solutions are the most satisfied. October 2006.
An independent study by Quocirca Ltd. www.quocirca.com IT Management for Small Businesses Page 2
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3 THE TECHNOLOGY RELIANT SMB............................................................................................................................................. 3 THE ONLINE SMB ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 THE IT MANAGEMENT TIME DRAIN .............................................................................................................. [download for more]