Top Global Trends Among Small and Medium Businesses in 2007

The top 10 IT trends for global SMB markets -- as identified by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc., a leading consulting firm specializing in IT, Internet, telecom and business services market intelligence trends and strategy, with a strong focus on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises -- are as follows:

#1: Beyond the Big Four: Emerging BRIC Countries (BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India and China) -- IT Vendors Will Focus On the "Next Ten" Emerging Markets; SMB spending In North America and Japan Will Surpass Large Business IT Spending In 2007

AMI forecasts the worldwide IT spending by SMBs to grow by 10 percent in 2007, fueled by continued high double-digit growth in countries in the Big Four category. However, IT vendors will step up their efforts to explore the next 10 emerging markets, namely selected countries from ASEAN (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines), SAARC (Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) and Lat Am (Argentina and Chile). Collectively, these 10 emerging markets are exhibiting GDP growth rates of over 7 percent and showing SMB IT spending growth rates exceeding 20 percent in 2007. Vietnam and Chile have seen surges in foreign direct investment, both being increasingly recognized for their manufacturing potential. High adult-literacy rates and increasing governmental support will drive the SMB sector. SMB IT spending in Indonesia will equal that of Sweden and surpass it in 2008. 2007 will also see the fall of the majority share of IT spend by large businesses in Japan and North America. For the first time, SMB IT spending is poised to surpass spending by large businesses in the two countries as noted above. Such a trend has already occurred in other regions -- Asia Pacific, Europe and Lat Am.

#2: Storage and Security Convergence Will Help SMBs Move Up The Adoption Curve

Storage and security solutions will continue to converge, leading to market consolidation. SMBs will be more inclined to adopt dual-purpose solutions as they check their budgets against investment priorities. AMI forecasts storage and security spend will grow by 19 percent in 2007. Storage optimization will be seen as an imperative among mid-market businesses. 2007 will also see the introduction and adoption of "All-in-One network storage appliances" for the less-than-250-employee segment. While SMBs are rapidly implementing basic PC security solutions such as anti-virus, spam filters and spyware, many SMBs have yet to deploy more comprehensive server and network-based security schemas that would provide for more robust, end-to-end protection against the rising tide of security threats. In 2007 SMBs will direct new spending on more advanced security solutions, such as intrusion detection, secure identity and access management, Web filtering, encryption and automated patch management. Vendors that provide SMBs with easy to use vulnerability assessment tools, a choice of software, hardware and services-based security solutions, and the ability to deploy these solutions in an incremental, yet integrated manner, will be best positioned to capitalize on this market opportunity.

#3: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Vendors Turn to Chapter Two

SaaS Chapter One was all about selling companies on the scale and skill advantages that SaaS provides, helping businesses take advantage of sophisticated solutions while minimizing IT investments, footprints and risks. In Chapter Two, SaaS vendors will increasingly focus on how their solutions help customers streamline business processes for market advantage. Leading vendors will increasingly provide customers with blueprints for business process improvement, pre-built integration solutions, more varied and flexible pricing options, and ecosystems that facilitate community relationships. By doing so, these vendors will take advantage of the expected 19 percent rise in global SMB hosted/SaaS spending over the next five years.

Chapter Two will also see a continuation of SaaS industry consolidation, as powerhouses such as Microsoft, Google, IBM and salesforce.com battle to build "uber" SaaS ecosystems. At the same time, new SaaS players and solutions will continue to emerge, and the likelihood of any one player or ecosystem