New research report examines SMB familiarity with and interest in new IT and support services

Parks Associates today announced new SMB tech support research examining the support market for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. IT and Support Services for Small Businesses finds that SMBs, which have between 1 and 250 employees, spend only $90 to $150 per month for IT services, including server maintenance, virus protection, and backup services.

“SMBs rely heavily on computing devices, but their spending on IT services, such as network security, cloud storage and IT support, has not matched this growing dependence,” said Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst at Parks Associates. “Broadband providers, CE makers, and other technology brands have the opportunity to extend their existing relationships with SMBs by incorporating IT services into current service bundles. Their first, critical step is to raise awareness among SMBs of various IT services as familiarity is a key driver of adoption. SMB decision makers who are familiar with the benefits of an IT service are more than nine times more likely to subscribe than decision makers who are unfamiliar with the service.”

Roughly 25% of U.S. SMBs have little-to-no familiarity with the technology, offerings, or benefits of many IT services. Given that SMBs rely heavily on recommendations from other SMBs for IT product decisions, service providers must create programs that incentivize their current SMB customers to share the information about their support experiences.

“SMBs have limited IT budgets, which makes many apprehensive about adopting new technical products and services,” Samuels said. “Sellers of IT services and solutions must not only be adept at communicating the value and benefits of their services and solutions, but they must also be able to tie these benefits to cost savings and revenue generation for small business customers.”

Report topics include:

• Factors driving adoption of IT and support services
• SMB interest in new IT and support services
• Market challenges and opportunities
• Service provider strategies in SMB markets
• Five-year forecast of revenue opportunities in providing support solutions to SMBs

For more information on the research or to purchase this report, visit www.parksassociates.com. To request specific data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com, 720.987.6614.

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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