One third of U.S. SMBs are interested in bundling multiple hosted infrastructure and remotely managed services offerings.
U.S.
small to medium-size business technology buyers are increasingly allocating a
larger proportion of their spending to cloud-based services, according to
recent AMI-Partners research. The report found that proportion was 10 percent
in 2010, but is forecasted to rise to more than 15 percent in 2015. As this
migration into the cloud accelerates, SMB buyers are showing a strong
inclination to purchase bundled cloud offerings as opposed to a stand-alone
application, the research indicated.
For
example, AMI research showed that 38 percent of U.S. SMBs have indicated a
strong preference for obtaining SAAS (software as a service) as part of a
package/bundle, versus only 11 percent who are interested in a single service.
One third of U.S. SMBs are interested in bundling multiple hosted
infrastructure and remotely managed services offerings, versus 9 percent of
firms who only want a single service.
"A
significant segment of U.S. SMBs prefer to deploy multiple cloud services in
order to achieve flexibility, ease of IT management and lower CAPEX," said
Donald Best, executive vice president of worldwide business development and
client services for AMI. "This is also driving an evolution in the channel
ecosystem, as communications service providers and hosts increasingly offer
bundles, including productivity suites and other cloud-based applications."
AMI's
Worldwide Cloud Services Practice includes two studies, each available for 23
countries: SMB Cloud Overview and SMB Cloud Playbook - Strategic and Tactical
GTM Guide. The studies include SMB preference for cloud-based application
bundles, price sensitivity and purchase channel preferences, as well as
comprehensive coverage of SMB adoption of cloud-based applications, managed
services and supporting infrastructure, including platforms and devices.
The
company said the studies are designed to provide a road map for successful
cloud go-to-market strategies and tactics. The reports provide an overview of
the growing impact of cloud services on the SMB market from the perspectives of
cloud mindset and economic influence, cloud-enabling platforms, infrastructure
and devices, SAAS, unified communications and remotely managed IT services,
current and planned adoption and deployment of cloud solutions and cloud usage
behavior, decision making, and purchase channels.
AMI's
soon-to-be-published 2011 U.S. SMB Cloud Playbook - Strategic and Tactical GTM
Guide details preferences for SAAS and hosted infrastructure bundling, as well
as hosted unified communications and productivity/collaboration suite bundles.
"Besides showing market size and growth, this research details numerous cloud
services bundles and price points, with data showing the attributes driving
optimal bundles, as well as revenue uplift," Best said. "This research also
details preferred purchase channel preferences for cloud bundles."
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Email
Print
