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2020 Vision: Where Is IT headed for Midmarket and Small Business?
Technology today plays a critical role in business — from delivering the products and solutions you provide, to supporting the people you employ. We created the 2020 Insight Technology Report: IT Trends for Midmarket and Small Business to understand how companies in the commercial space are managing technology today — and where their IT strategies are headed.
Partner alignment
When it comes to IT vendor relationships, commercial businesses are saying it’s complicated.
41% of midmarket and small businesses depend on 6 to 10 vendors for IT support. Yet, 4 in 10 IT professionals insist vendors don’t understand the needs of small businesses. 43% are frustrated that vendors cater to larger enterprises.
Partnering with a high number of IT service providers poses a variety of challenges for businesses.
- 43% have a difficult time coordinating internal and external resources on complex IT projects.
- 40% have a hard time with effective license and asset management from multiple providers.
- 49% struggle when working with providers to integrate new solutions with legacy technology.
- 44% have a hard time getting vendors to customize solutions to fit their needs.
But the most common concern over vendor relationships is security. 50% of IT leaders have a difficult time entrusting aspects of data protection to a third party.
Digital transformation progress report
95% of businesses have either implemented or have plans to begin a digital transformation initiative within the next 12 months. Commercial businesses are embracing digital transformation to drive a variety of business outcomes. But the top three areas IT leaders expect to see the greatest impact are:
- Customer experience 43%
- Operational efficiency 42%
- Workforce productivity/collaboration 42%
Supporting the modern workplace
Small and midmarket businesses must provide consumer-like technology experiences that enable and support:
- The growing gig economy
- Remote and work from home options
- Digital-native millennial workers
55% say they’re technology experiences are matching consumer expectations very or extremely well.
Cloud status
Commercial businesses understand the value of cloud technology, but security concerns are holding them back.
- Migration: 50% are apprehensive about governing and addressing evolving security requirements.
- Implementation: 65% are worried about ensuring security and compliance.
- Data growth: 41% are concerned about the security of data in dispersed environments.
- But the primary obstacle to cloud migration is cost. 56% don’t know how to compare cloud costs to current costs.
IT supply chain & procurement
56% of small and midmarket businesses feel confident that their process for procuring, maintaining and replacing technology is very or extremely optimized. But companies will admit there’s room for improvement.
- 53% agree Software Asset Management (SAM) tools could help optimize purchasing.
- 47% reason service providers could streamline the hardware lifecycle.
- 45% think an e-procurement system would help uniform purchasing.
- 43% say they’d like a self-service e-commerce platform for employees.
89% of IT professionals agree an optimized IT supply chain frees them to focus on innovation projects that advance the business.
Download the full report at insight.com/2020ITReport
