21/07-05   -   Pressmeddelande

Security Will be Hot on Western European Small and Medium Businesses Agendas for 2005, Says IDC

Of all solution areas, security and collaborative solutions are currently the most adopted among SMBs, according to a recent study by IDC. Supply chain management remains the least adopted. The adoption of security technologies is high in every single industry while collaborative technologies such as workgroup, email, unified messaging, and virtual private networks show high levels of adoption in the business services sector.

Almost 50% of SMBs have already adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) and back-office applications, with at least two applications integrated. Manufacturing and business services are the leading sectors for ERP adoption. Discrete manufacturing has caught up in the adoption of integrated back-office systems in the past few years and a high number of manufacturers now rely on an integrated back-office system.

"For 2005, security, industry-specific solutions, and content/document management emerge as the three most relevant priorities among SMBs. Security remains the top priority. This, coupled with the fact that security is already the most adopted solution, highlights SMBs´ concerns regarding security issues," said Laura Converso, senior research analyst with IDC´s European Small and Medium Business service.
SMBs´ plans to invest in industry-specific solutions are significant in some verticals: more than 50% of insurance/other finance, discrete manufacturing, and transport/telecom/media/utilities SMBs are expected to invest more or the same amount in 2005 as in 2004. By size, the low end of the medium segment (100-249 employees) expects to invest strongly in industry-specific applications during 2005.

In the case of content/document management solutions, banking, insurance/other finance, and government investment plans for 2005 stand out compared to other vertical markets. Also, SMBs with between 100 and 249 employees show the highest rate of plans for investment.

As SMBs become increasingly important for IT vendors, analyzing their priorities and current and future investment plans becomes critical. In order to identify these, during 2005 IDC carried out an end-user survey in the top 5 Western European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and Spain), among 728 small and medium companies (20-499 employees).

IDC´s study Mapping Solution Priorities in Western European SMBs (Doc #MM02M, June 2005) analyzes IT spending trends among Western European companies for the period 2004-2009, with a focus on the following company size segments: small businesses (1-99 employees), medium businesses (100-499 employees), low-end large businesses (500-999 employees), and upper-end large businesses (1,000+ employees).

The study analyzes SMBs´ IT spending directions, solution priorities, level of adoption of Web interfaces, and future investment plans. Solution areas such as ERP, CRM, industry-specific applications, supply chain applications, collaborative tools, and content/document management are analyzed by vertical market (banking, insurance and other finance, discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, healthcare services, transport/telecommunications/media/utilities, retail and wholesale, business services, education, and government).

To purchase this document, please contact your local IDC office or visit www.idc.com.

More information about the Danish Security market will be presented at IDC´s Security Conference in Copenhagen September 20, 2005 and information concerning the Danish SMB market will be presented at IDC´s IT for væskt conference, in Copenhagen on December 15, 2005. For more information about the conference, please visit nordic.idc.com/events. Or contact Charlotte Thygesen Poulsen +45 39 16 22 22.

About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world´s leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com
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For more information about the research, contact:
Laura Converso
+390228457336
lconverso@idc.com