75% of Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMBs) are Concerned about Inflation

New research highlights opportunities for IoT solution providers in an underserved market

Parks Associates’ latest study, SMBs: Marketplace for Connectivity and IoT, investigates the business challenges and outlook for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and the opportunity for connectivity, IoT devices, and services to help transform their operations. The firm reports that 75% of US SMBs are concerned about inflation, and the majority are concerned about the resultant rise in the cost of materials, insurance, healthcare, and energy.

SMBs have a new and heightened need for access control, energy management, and tools to monitor their staff, inventory, and buildings. New security applications and services stemming from cloud-based and video-verification solutions give SMBs insight into the metrics and real-time analytics of their operations.

“ISPs and other vendors have an opportunity to serve SMBs with Wi-Fi management, network security, and other value-added services (VAS),” said Jennifer Kent, VP, Research, Parks Associates.  “In addition, the market pressures SMBs have faced this year place new priorities on energy management and savings and technologies that can streamline operations and combine risk management with potential insurance savings.”

The new study highlights the role that IoT devices and services can play in controlling costs, including how small business can do “more with less” in response to labor shortages. In addition, the research addresses the role of ISPs and communication service providers in helping manage and security their networks and growing portfolio of end user devices in a changing environment including hybrid and remote work.

SMBs: Marketplace for Connectivity and IoT surveyed 1,000 small-medium businesses with a physical location for operations and 2 to 100 employees. The research is available for purchase.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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