SMEs will remain the sweet spot for UK VARs operating in the security and storage sectors this year, according to analysts.
Research from AMI has claimed that UK SMEs will spend $2.2bn this year on security and storage, an increase of 15 per cent, with $1.47bn on data storage and $730m on security.
Small UK firms (99 or fewer employees) are planning to spend most of their storage budgets on hardware devices for PC backup driven by legal compliance. Mid-sized businesses (100-999 employees) will spend their storage budgets on managed services.
Jacqueline Atkinson, research analyst at AMI, told CRN: “Resellers that emphasise protection in securing and backing up data are likely to attain a greater share of IT storage and security spending in the SME space. Security and storage issues have relatively converged as the need for business continuity takes on a greater precedence and resellers can leverage that opportunity.”
In the security sector small businesses are spending their budgets on anti-virus products. However, medium-sized firms are focused more on managed security services.
“Managed services is a growing market across all SMEs on a global scale,” Atkinson said. “We’ve already seen major IT manufacturers, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, tailor their managed services to this market pulling business from local service providers. AMI estimates that managed services spending will increase 25 per cent in 2007, reaching $35m in the UK SME market.”
Abdul Terry, marketing director at reseller Kelway, said: “As applications change and customer needs and working habits change, so too will the necessary level of security.
“Storage will increase because storage vendors are targeting SMEs who still have to comply with legislation. Also the subject is now easier for SMEs to understand.”
reader comments