Outsourced
IT services are too expensive for most small and medium British
businesses, and most fear loss of control, according to market
analystDatamonitor.
Datamonitor found just 25% of 500 UK SMBs surveyed willing to
use outsourced services. "The key areas for outsourcing are
security and e-mail. Only a small minority of SMBs can see a time
when their IT function is fully managed," said Aphrodite Brinsmead,
author of
the study.
Customer service and service performance are top priorities when
choosing an IT supplier or partner. The respondents said they are
more likely to pick a national internet service provider or
telecoms provider for managed services, with local or specialist
providers seen as a last resort.
No supplier dominates the SMB market. For example, for network
services, SMBs mentioned more than 100 different suppliers.
However, mroe than 70% buy their telephone services from
BT, and BT also appears to be the most popular supplier for
network services and managed server hosting. However SMBs are least
satisfied with their telephone and mobile suppliers.
"The two key reasons for not having servers managed in a secure
datacentre are cost and loss of control," said Brinsmead. "The fact
that many SMBs are unaware of the outsourcing options available to
them may stem from vendors having previously overlooked them."
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