As per Microsoft Corp global SMB IT and Hosted IT Index 2010 which studies how small and medium-sized businesses fared during the recession and how they use technology, SMBs are taking up cloud computing.
- More than 40 percent of the small and medium-sized business respondents who used hosted or cloud technology expressed that they saw rise in revenue by 30 percent. Whereas, 90 percent of respondents who were not using hosted technology saw decrease in revenue.
- There is an increase in awareness of hosted services, as 65 percent of SMBs are using hosted software to some extent and remaining 73 percent of SMBs have considered it when compared with just 44 percent in the 2008 Index.
- SMBs are understanding the value of renting IT as a service. About 36 percent of them expressed that a pay-as-you-go model would be appealing.
When we consider the use of e-mail by SMBs, about 67 percent SMBs have on site, 29 percent of them have hosted and just 4 percent SMBs do not have. While coming to file sharing/collaboration, about 56 percent of the SMBs have on site, 23 percent have hosted and 21 percent SMBs do not have. When we see backup, 71 percent SMBs have on site, 22 percent have hosted, 7 percent do not have. While considering website, 49 percent of SMBS have on site, 39 percent have hosted and 12 percent do not have.