An independent study of 500 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and US has found that 43 percent of all respondents would be willing to purchase cloud services from their incumbent service provider. BCSG, which provides a cloud services marketplace for Service Providers and conducted the study, said telecom operators are ideally placed to benefit from surging demand for cloud services.
The survey also found that 40 percent of UK and US SMBs are openly willing to purchase software and tools from operators to help them grow their business.
“The results of the study prove what we’ve known for a long time,” says Tom Platt, Commercial Director at BCSG. “Not only is the SMB market a potential goldmine for operators looking to add greater value to customers through service diversification, they also present a captive and willing audience. It is vital that operators seize the initiative by helping their SMB customers realise the value of cloud services and business applications.”
Some other highlights:
- 42 percent of US and UK SMBs receive no help from their telecoms operators whatsoever
- More than half (58 percent) of SMBs would switch operators for access to a broader range of technology and services
- 52 percent of SMBs will contemplate switching operators in the next two years.
