SMBs to increase tech spend, 35% intend to enter cloud for first time

A new survey says 70 percent of SMBs intend to increase their technology spend in the next 12 months, with one-third of them saying they'll bump spending by at least 10 percent.

Trade Association CompTIA said the primary impetus cited by the respondents to its Third Annual Small and Medium Business Technology Adoptions Trends study for the increased outlays were to improve customer interactions, mobility options and operational efficiencies.

The increased spending, CompTIA said, may come from large, one-time purchases. In the aggregate, expect SMB IT budgets to increase by an average of slightly over 5 percent, with some firms' growth rates much higher and some flat.

"Technology is more accessible, more affordable and more available to SMBs than ever before," said Seth Robinson, director of technology analysis at CompTIA. "SMBs may not have an abundance of capital to invest, so they have to make every dollar count. But the majority is willing to spend money on new technologies, especially solutions that give them capabilities on par with a larger enterprise. Technology plays an integral role in the life of a small business."

CompTIA said another major trend for SMBs will be their adoption of cloud computing solutions.

Nearly one-third of SMBs have adopted cloud computing technology, with medium-sized businesses (42 percent) showing the highest utilization. Another 35 percent of all SMBs plan to use the cloud in some form in the next year.

Storage and backup solutions are the most heavily used cloud applications with 71 percent of SMBs using the cloud in this way. Email (62 percent), document management (59 percent), collaboration (56 percent) and customer relationship management (53 percent) are other popular options.

Among SMBs now using cloud computing, 92 percent of firms say their experience has been positive or very positive; and 97 percent report that their move to the cloud has produced the desired result, with cost and flexibility most frequently cited as benefits of a cloud solution.

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