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Dan Swinhoe (Gloabl)- Do SMBs Need More Coffee, or Security?

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September 2012
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What you're Saying Kasey Cassells (Global) - Is the iPhone 5 Worth the Wait?
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According to AVG, 22% of SMBs spend more on coffee than they do on IT. 22%! That's a hell of a lot of companies spending a hell of a lot more on coffee. For an idea of how much, the maths goes something like this; according to Spiceworks, there are around 18 million SMBs worldwide, with an average annual IT b udget of $152,000. So: $152,000 x 3,960,000 companies (22% of 18 million) =$601,920,000,000 annual IT b udget =$1,649,095,890.41 daily IT b udget. While the report doesn't say how much more companies are spending on coffee, if we assume it's only a little b it more, SMBs are still downing over $1 b illion worth of coffee a day. While it may seem like a trivial fact, there is some importance to it. While companies are spending money on caffeine, they aren't spending money on useful things, like security. And while people may think they need coffee, their companies prob ab ly need b etter security. The study said that one in six SMBs had suffered a security b reach in 2011, and b etween the millions of lost man hours, lost revenue opportunities and replacement equipment, that's and extra $22 million lost that could've b een added to the coffee b udget. The prob lem looks like it's going to get worse. According to Symantec, attacks on SMBs are on the rise. Last year around 18% of attacks were on companies with less than 250 employees, a figure which has doub led in the first half of 2012. While companies with 2500+ employees have seen a drop in attacks, hackers may b e using the lax security of their smaller suppliers as a stepping stone to get to those b igger organizations, exploiting the weakest point in the supply chain. Mob ility is popular among SMBs. iPads and other tab lets were one of the main drivers of non-caffeine spending last year with 62% already deploying, or planning to deploy the devices around the enterprise. The BYOD trend continues to grow, b ut security still remains a grey area. Users and IT departments often clash in deciding who is actually responsib le for device security, and almost three quarters of SMBs do not agree that the use of mob ile phones in b usiness may represent a threat to IT security. Elsewhere, the cloud is a set to b e a b ig source of spending in the coming months and years. 48% of SMBs currently use the cloud, and that figure is expected to rise to 62% b y the end of the year, glob al spending totaling $40 b illion. Spending and adoption figures are expected to rise steeply in the coming years, reaching $100 b illion b y 2016. The lack of hardware costs is especially useful for SMBs with limited b udgets, meaning more can b e spent on that all-important coffee supply.

Apple's iphone5 is definately a master piece. The iphone's unib ody design took as much innovation as designing a new phone from scratch. The conncetivity... Richart 09-14-2012

Kasey Cassells (Global) - Is the iPhone 5 Worth the Wait?

The phone looks like a great smartphone to me. Unfortunately, there's not much else that they can do to 'revolutionize' it...so for some old-time users... Andrey 09-14-2012

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According to Spiceworks, the largest portion of actual IT b udgets (40%) is allocated to hardware purchases, with software (34%) and services (26%) following b ehind. Most of the hardware money goes on desktops and laptops, while anti-virus and recovery top software choices. Businesses often only realize the cost of cyb er-attacks after experiencing one. SMB b udgets vary massively all over the world, and in some regions it's less than $10,000 a year, spending what little they have as and when they need to with little planning for the future or possib le risks. The good news is b udgets seem to b e increasing steadily year-on-year, and even if companies drank the world's most expensive coffee, at $80 a cup $1.6 b illion a year equals 20,613,698 cups, so no one is going to go thirsty. By Dan Swinhoe, Editorial Assistant, IDG Connect

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