Over half of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) which were polled recently under a global survey said they believed the Internet of Things (IoT) would boost revenues.
The expectations of SMBs and their managed services providers (MSPs) were revealed in the survey by Online security company AVG Technologies N.V., and included responses from 180 Australian organisations.
In most areas, the Australian SMBs and MSPs shared similar attitudes to their international counterparts. Almost three out of five (57 per cent) SMBs agreed that IoT would help improve revenues, a sentiment that was echoed by two-thirds (67 per cent) of MSP respondents. However, just 18 per cent of SMB respondents thought their IT provider was ahead of the curve regarding IoT management while 70 per cent of MSPs themselves admitted the need to adapt their services to meet customer expectations in this regard, said AVG in a press statement.
“Our MSP partners are telling us that the Internet of Things is the one IT trend making an immediate difference to their bottom line and to the SMB customers that they serve,” said Michael McKinnon, Security Advisor at AVG Technologies Australia.
The study, which interviewed 1,770 small businesses and MSPs in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia (45 Australian MSPs and 135 SMBs), also revealed more than half (55 per cent) of MSP respondents said customers were demanding IoT related services and 67 per cent (76 per cent internationally) were planning to expand their service/product portfolio. Of those SMBs with an IT provider, 53 per cent (vs 68 per cent) were of the opinion that their provider could improve their service with regard to IoT offerings and understanding.
Here’s a summary of the other key findings in the study:
SMBs
- Almost half (46 per cent) of SMBs thought that the Internet of Things (IoT) would be the IT trend that had the greatest impact on their organisation over the next five years.
- About 62 per cent of SMBs have small to substantial budgets specifically assigned over the next 12 months for the development of Internet of Things solutions
MSPs
- Over half (55 per cent) of MSP respondents had said customers were demanding IoT related services and 70 per cent globally but only 58 per cent in Australia said that they would amend their services based on customer need
- About 49per cent of Australian MSPs currently had an integrated remote monitoring and management platform – compared to the 38 per cent average
- About 44 per cent Australian and 58 per cent of international MSPs said that they needed to join with partners to successfully offer IoT-related services.
Image Credit: AVG
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