New Study Sees Rise in Cloud Services Adoption Among Small and Medium Businesses in First Half of 2010

AUSTIN, Texas – July 28, 2010 – During the first half of 2010, 14 percent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) reported using cloud computing services and another 10 percent reported plans to deploy cloud-based services, according to a new study conducted by Spiceworks™, Inc.

These findings were uncovered in a global survey of 1,500 IT professionals at small and medium businesses (SMBs) with fewer than 1,000 employees. The survey was designed to uncover cloud computing adoption trends and sentiments among SMBs. Results of the survey are available in a free report titled: “SMB Cloud Computing Adoption: What’s Hot and What’s Not.” Highlights include:

  • Smaller SMBs are more aggressive when it comes to cloud services adoption than their larger SMB counterparts. 38 percent of SMBs with fewer than 20 employees use or plan to use cloud solutions in the next 6 months. This adoption rate is markedly higher than the 17 percent of organizations with between 20 and 99 and the 22 percent of organizations with more than 100 employees that use or plan to use cloud services over the same time period.
  • SMBs in emerging markets lead the pack. 41 percent of small and medium businesses in Latin America/South America (LASA) and 35 percent of SMBs in the Asia/Pacific region are adopting cloud services. This is well ahead of the 24 percent of SMBs in North America and 19 percent in Europe that are adopting cloud services.
  • Technology companies are adopting cloud services at a faster pace. 34 percent of SMBs in the tech sector use or are planning to use cloud services. Companies in the services sector (e.g. finance, HR, consulting) comprise next fastest growing vertical segment with 22 percent using or planning to deploy cloud solutions. Most other industries trail closely behind with 20 percent adoption rates.
  • 62 percent of SMBs have no plans to move to the cloud in the next 12 months citing technology and security concerns. Companies with 20-99 employees and typically one full-time IT pro on staff were least likely to move, along with companies in core industrial segments (manufacturing, aerospace, engineering) and social services (government, education, healthcare).

“Small companies with little existing infrastructure and outsourced IT are moving most quickly to the cloud, whereas larger SMBs are taking more measured steps due to considerable investments in onsite technology,” said Jay Hallberg, co-founder and vice president of Marketing for Spiceworks. “With seven times as many users as the enterprise market, it’s important for cloud service vendors to consider cloud service adoption patterns and to make it simple for SMBs to manage hybrid on-premise and cloud solutions.”

The “SMB Cloud Computing Adoption: What’s Hot and What’s Not” survey was conducted by the Spiceworks Voice of IT™ (VoIT) market research program. Survey respondents were from 87 different countries and among the 1 million SMB IT professionals that use the free Spiceworks IT management software to manage their computer networks. For more information on this survey and for a complete list of survey results, visit https://www.spiceworks.com/marketing/resources/.

To receive updates on future research, follow Spiceworks Voice of IT™ on Twitter athttps://www.x.com/VoiceOfIT or @VoiceOfIT, and sign up for Spiceworks Voice of IT™ research e-mails at [email protected].

About the Spiceworks IT Management Software
With more than 1 million users in 196 countries, Spiceworks is the most widely deployed and fastest growing IT management application in history. Spiceworks combines free network management, network monitoring and help desk software with a rapidly growing and active Facebook-like community of IT professionals. The user community currently supports 35 million workers, manages 60 million computers and devices, and spends $180 billion annually on technology products and services.

About Spiceworks

Spiceworks is the marketplace that connects the IT industry to help technology buyers and sellers get their jobs done, every day. The company helps people in the world’s businesses to find, adopt, and manage the latest technologies while also helping IT brands build, market, and support better products and services. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks empowers people to use technology to make their organizations, their communities, and the world better. For more information, visit http://www.spiceworks.com.

Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks and connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks.


Spiceworks is a registered trademark of Spiceworks, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.